More than 15 years after its discovery, Brazil’s pre-salt arena alone accounts for more than 70% of Petrobras’ production in the country and has become one of the world’s most important deep-water provinces.
The state-controlled company is now focusing on exploring and producing hydrocarbons with efficiency while reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the process.
“Petrobras continues with a strategic focus on deep and ultra-deepwaters, with an emphasis on the pre-salt, where it has competitive advantages, but is advancing in the analysis of new business that can reduce exposure and dependence on fossil sources and, at the same time, are profitable, ensuring the company’s long-term sustainability,” Petrobras said.
The company operates the world’s largest carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) programme, which was developed to produce oil in the pre-salt with a low carbon emission rate.
The initiative was first implemented in 2008, and Petrobras reinjected 8.7 million tonnes of CO2 in 2021, representing 24% of CCUS projects globally, and aims to reach a total volume of 40 million tonnes of CO2 by 2025.
Many of Petrobras’ fields carry high amounts of CO2 in the natural gas. The CCUS technology allows the separation and later reinjection of carbon back into the reservoir where it is stored.
On its road to net-zero emissions, Petrobras has so far managed to practically halve its upstream carbon intensity from 30 kilograms of CO2 per barrel of oil equivalent in 2009 to 15.7 kilograms per boe in 2021.
Petrobras plans to invest $2.8 billion to reduce and mitigate emissions in the next five years, including $248 million to create a decarbonisation fund to develop solutions, perform studies and help implement projects.
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