11/13/2008 14h50
Petrobras investments should reach US$ 23.3 billion in 2009
Gazeta Mercantil - 11/13/2008
In 2009 Petrobras should keep the same level of investments of this year, around R$ 50 billion (US$ 23.3 billion), and it is going to give priority, in its new business plan, to projects that generate cash faster. "It is a new element in the review of the business plan. It is natural, in the current situation, to focus on projects that may generate cash", affirmed the finance director of the company Almir Barbassa yesterday. "We have an excess of projects, contrary to other oil companies. So, we will give priority to those that can generate cash faster, but we will not interrupt those which are already working", added the executive. Tuesday night Petrobras published record profits of R$ 10.8 billion (US$ 5 billion), a 96% high over last year. To complement next year's cash and reach the investments goal, Barbassa affirmed that it is possible that Petrobras raise an amount between US$ 5 and US$ 10 billion in the market, even in the current environment. Asked whether the projects of the new refineries and of Comperj (Petrochemical Complex of Rio de Janeiro), for example, may be delayed due to the new guideline, Barbassa affirmed that the details are still being discussed and that there is no definition about what leaves and what stays. "This has not been put on the table yet", he said. In the beginning of November the director of Supply of the state company, Paulo Roberto Costa, affirmed that works already started, such as Comperj and the Abreu Lima refinery, in Pernambuco, would not be changed. According to Barbassa, the new business plan of the company for the period between 2009 and 2013, which would be published in October but that is being revaluated due to the crisis, does not have a publication date yet. "The expectation is that it will be published before the end of the year", he affirmed.
