Brazil calls for investments in oil and gas sectors

By Dilara Zengin

ISTANBUL (AA) - The repositioning of Brazil's state-owned oil and gas company Petrobras opens up space for new investments in Brazil's petroleum industry, Decio Fabricio Oddone, director general of Brazil's National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a ministerial session during the Congress, of which Anadolu Agency is the global communication partner, Oddone noted that a process of reform is taking place in Brazil's energy policies to ensure the sector is more market-oriented in efforts to attract much-needed investments.

The oil industry of Brazil, one of the top ten oil producers, currently represents 11 percent of the country's GDP, Oddone said.

"We have around 13 billion barrels of reserves, but this does not represent our potential and we must unlock it," he added.

Oddone said that Brazil's petroleum industry experienced very little change until the end of Petrobras' monopoly in the country's oil sector in 1997.

Brazil started to discuss a new exploration and production policy in 2016 and 2017 and their new policy was recently published. This change ensured that Petrobras is no longer the sole operator, Oddone explained.

Petrobras, the largest firm in the southern hemisphere by market capitalization, has struggled since a major corruption scandal of the company erupted in 2014.

Petrobras has been under investigation with bribery and money laundering allegations. Dilma Rousseff, who has been suspended from the presidency since May 12, along with her party have also been accused of corruption at Petrobras.

"We have now an open avenue for new companies to participate in exploration and production in the very large reserves that we have discovered in the last decade," Oddone stated.

Oddone declared that Brazil is on the verge of creating a diverse natural gas market in the country.

"We have a lack of infrastructure, we need investments in refineries, terminals, especially in plants. We have a very limited network of pipelines in Brazil," he said.