OREANDA-NEWS. Petrobras will double in size by 2020. The statement was made on Tuesday (May 7) by CEO Graca Foster, during the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), which is being held in Houston, United States. The executive presented the lecture titled "The Future of Energy in Brazil: The Role of Petrobras," during the "Perspectives on the Global Power Market - Shaping the Future" panel, which was attended by more than 250 people.

Output in Brazil, highlighted the CEO, which stood at 2.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (oil and gas) per day in 2012, will reach 5.7 million in 2020, adding our production and that of our partners. And the pre-salt cluster will be largely responsible for this increase. "We (Petrobras) made 53 discoveries in Brazil in the last 14 months. In the pre-salt alone there were 15," she remarked. "Petrobras' reserves have the potential to double in size and reach 31.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent in the coming years," she added. To her, there is no doubt that the results are the fruit of our investments, which grew 21.5 percent per year since 2000, and topped at USD 42.9 billion in 2012.

Investments in Research and Development in the period were also significant, and important to achieve goals: In the last twelve years, investments in this area have grown 18.3 percent per year, and in 2012 they reached USD 1.1 billion. Our investment plan for the 2013 to 2017 period is USD 236.7 billion.

Graca Foster also noted the growing demand on the Brazilian market, well above the world average. Between 2000 and 2012, demand for gasoline in Brazil surged 73 percent, compared to 17 percent globally. In the same period, demand for diesel in the country rose 52 percent, while global growth was 31 percent. "And the comparison when it comes to jet fuel is even more striking: While in Brazil it grew 58 percent, in the world it dropped 3 percent," compared the CEO.

The executive also noted that our investments, combined with the local content valuation policy, attracted foreign shipyards to Brazil so they could become technology partners of the shipyards that are being deployed in the country. Among them are partners with origins in Japan, China, and Korea.

Also participating in the panel were the Oil Minister of Angola, Jose Vasconcelos; the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment of Canada, David Ramsey, and Pemex's director for exploration and production, Carlos Morales-Gil. The panel was mediated by the person in charge of programming for the OTC, Gamal Hassan.