The Brazilian energy giant Petrobras $PETR3 (-7,58 %)
$PETR4 (-7,38 %) has set a new milestone in the reinjection of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin thanks to 22 floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels that capture and re-inject CO2 off the Brazilian coast. The company is pursuing the combination of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) with enhanced oil recovery (EOR) to bring low-carbon barrels to market.

According to the Brazilian giant, 14.2 million tons of CO2 were injected into the pre-salt reservoirs of the Santos Basin last year, exceeding the 13 million tons of CO2 in 2023. Petrobras is not only a pioneer in the field of ultra-deep waters, but also claims that its program is the largest in the world in terms of the amount of CO2 injected annually.

According to the latest report by the Global CCS Institute (GCCSI), the annual injection capacity of CCUS projects in operation worldwide will reach 51 million tons of CO2 in 2024. The results of injection into pre-salt reservoirs represent more than a quarter (28%) of the global capacity reported for 2024.

Petrobras $PETR3 (-7,58 %)
$PETR4 (-7,38 %) has announced a reduction in diesel prices of R$0.17 per liter. This measure corresponds to a price reduction of 4.6%, which comes into effect today, explained CEO Magda Chambriard on Monday (March 31) at an event at the Petrobras headquarters in downtown Rio de Janeiro.

"Our diesel price is nominally 20.9% lower than in December 2022," said the CEO.

Ms. Chambriard also mentioned that the price of aviation fuel is expected to drop from April 1. "We review the prices every 15 days and adjust them if necessary."

Petrobras last adjusted (increased) diesel prices by 6.28% or R$0.22 per liter in early February, after more than a year of no price changes.

In addition to the company's pricing, diesel also became more expensive due to the increase in the locally levied tax on the movement of goods and services (ICMS). Prior to the price increase in February, the state-owned company had last reduced the cost of diesel by 7.4% at the end of December 2023.

Petrobras $PETR3 (-7,58 %)
$PETR4 (-7,38 %) has completed modernization work on Train 1 of the Abreu e Lima refinery (RNEST) in the city of Ipojuca in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil.

Around R$ 93 million was invested in the renovation and expansion (revamp), which will increase the plant's processing capacity from 115,000 to 130,000 bpd.

This important milestone marks the completion of the production capacity expansions planned for the refinery train currently in operation, with the aim of improving the flow of light products and increasing the processing capacity for pre-salt oil.

Of all Brazilian refineries, RNEST has the highest conversion rate of crude oil to diesel (70%). Once the RNEST project (SNOX, Revamp Train 1 and Train 2) is completed, the refinery will have a processing capacity of 260,000 bpd, which would mean an increase in national production of S-10 diesel of around 13 million lpd.

In December 2024, RNEST commissioned the SNOX unit, the first of its kind in the Brazilian refinery, which is responsible for reducing sulfur oxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions and produces sulfuric acid, a new product marketed by the refinery that contributes to environmental protection. Among other things, the acid produced is an important raw material for the treatment and production of drinking water.

The contract award process for the completion of Train 2, which will increase RNEST's capacity by 130,000 bpd, is underway.

...a little light comes from somewhere on time and next time it's almost twice as good 🥤🍿

The American oilfield services company NOV and the Brazilian state-owned energy company Petrobras $PETR3 (-7,58 %)
$PETR4 (-7,38 %) have signed a pre-commercial agreement to develop flexible pipes for deepwater applications with high CO2 content.

The collaboration, formalized with the signing of an agreement in February, focuses on the development of stainless steel armor to combat CO2-induced stress corrosion cracking (SCC), described as a persistent challenge in subsea oil and gas operations.

Under the terms of the agreement, Petrobras will invest in the development and qualification of this new technology and work closely with NOV to ensure the solution meets stringent industry standards.

The focus will be on the development of 6-inch and 8-inch production and gas injection risers and flowlines that can withstand high CO2 levels in deepwater applications.

According to NOV, the technology also aims to preserve the key characteristics of standard flexible pipes, such as ease of installation and compatibility with existing vessels and infrastructure, ensuring minimal disruption and cost-effective integration into Petrobras' field developments.

The Brazilian state-owned oil and gas company Petrobras $PETR3 (-7,58 %)
$PETR4 (-7,38 %) has detected hydrocarbons in the Campos pre-salt basin in an exploratory well in the Norte de Brava block.

The hydrocarbons were found in well 1-BRSA-1394-RJS, which is located 105 km from the state of Rio de Janeiro at a water depth of 575 meters.

The well has been completed and is currently undergoing a final wireline survey.

The hydrocarbon-bearing interval was discovered using electrical logs, gas measurements and fluid samples, which will later be characterized by laboratory analysis.

The consortium will continue work to complete the drilling project to the planned final depth and characterize the conditions of the deposits encountered.

Based on this data, it will be possible to evaluate the potential and guide the next exploration activities in the area.

The Norte de Brava block is an important asset for the exploration of pre-salt potential, particularly in the Campos Basin.

The block was acquired in December 2022 in the first cycle of open acreage under production sharing, a bidding round organized by the National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) under the production sharing system with Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA) as manager.

Petrobras is the operator of the block and holds a 100% stake in the project.

Petrobras $PETR3 (-7,58 %)
$PETR4 (-7,38 %) has developed a new generative artificial intelligence (AI) model to speed up maintenance processes for its oil platforms and other industrial facilities such as refineries and gas processing plants.

By 2029, the company expects to save R$20 million through efficiency gains with the AI assistant called Petronemo, said Otavio Ciribelli, the company's general manager of information technology. The executive presented the project, which was developed in collaboration with Deloitte, at GTC 2025 in San Jose, California, organized by Nvidia.

"We have considered conservative metrics," Ciribelli told Valor, shortly after his presentation at GTC 2025. The AI assistant is currently in the certification phase. In the coming months, it will be integrated into the evaluation process of parts in need of repair on the platforms.

"We carry out 30,000 inspections per year, and around 20% of these result in discrepancies that require repair recommendations," explained the Petrobras manager. The current process for analyzing repair and maintenance recommendations on the platforms takes two to three weeks.

Petronemo will make recommendations that will be evaluated by the company's 400-strong team of reliability engineers. "It's not a very large group, but it's absolutely important," Ciribelli emphasized.

The work of these engineers has a direct impact on the lifespan of Petrobras' production platforms, he said. "When we put a platform into operation, we want it to stay healthy until the last minute. The saddest story is when a platform that is designed to last 25 years has to be shut down prematurely."

In the project developed with Deloitte, Meta's large open-source language models, Llama 1 and 2, were used as the training basis for the AI assistant. The more robust data load and training were developed in-house and hosted on Petrobras' computers.

The Petronemo model is processed on four supercomputers with graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia. These include the Pegasus, Tatu and Gaia machines from Petrobras and the Santos Dumont supercomputer from the National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC).

The company has also set itself the goal of developing an AI assistant that seamlessly integrates into processes and speaks the jargon of Petrobras engineers, jokingly referred to as "petrolês" in Portuguese, as Mr. Ciribelli mentioned in his presentation.

Tim Wiesel, Partner and Head of AI and Data at Deloitte Brazil, who presented Petronemo together with Ciribelli at GTC 2025, said the project is an example of the trend for companies to internalize their computing infrastructures, a model known as "on-premises", with the aim of reducing development costs for AI applications.

"We did a study at Deloitte that demonstrated a 30 percent increase in [compute] performance and 50 percent reduction in cost per token," Wiesel said, referring to the data fragments used to train AI models and billed by cloud AI providers.

Petrobras $PETR3 (-7,58 %)
$PETR4 (-7,38 %)Brazil's national oil and gas company, is in advanced talks with US liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers about a long-term import deal. As the largest oil producer in Latin America, Brazil is facing a major energy policy challenge. Although the country is a major oil exporter, it consumes far more natural gas than it produces and is heavily reliant on imports to cover its domestic needs. In response, the Brazilian government is actively seeking more stable and reliable gas supplies, particularly from the United States, the world's leading LNG exporter.

In an interview during the CERAWeek conference in Houston, TX, Petrobras' Director of Energy Transition and Sustainability, Mauricio Tolmasquim, revealed that the company is changing its strategy. "We continue to import in the spot market, but we are moving towards the long-term market," he explained, signaling a new direction for the company's gas procurement strategy. This change in strategy is important to ensure that Brazil can meet its growing demand for natural gas in the coming decades.

Petrobras recently signed its first long-term LNG supply contract. In partnership with the British multinational energy and services company Centrica, PBR will purchase 0.8 million tons of LNG per year for 15 years starting in 2027. This historic contract represents Brazil's first long-term commitment to LNG imports and is an important step towards securing a more reliable energy supply for the country. By committing to a long-term contract, PBR can ensure a more stable price and supply situation and reduce the risks associated with the volatility of the spot market.

The contract with Centrica is expected to be a cornerstone in Petrobras' strategy to diversify and strengthen its LNG supply chain. As Brazil's energy needs continue to grow, access to long-term LNG contracts will provide PBR with greater flexibility and security in meeting demand. It also opens the door to further long-term contracts with other international suppliers, strengthening Brazil's energy resilience.

In addition to seeking LNG from the United States, Petrobras is exploring the possibility of importing gas from Argentina. The country has large shale gas deposits, particularly in the Vaca Muerta formation, one of the largest shale gas deposits in the world. However, Brazil and Argentina face considerable logistical challenges due to the geographical distance and the lack of infrastructure for transporting gas from Argentina to Brazil.

In recent years, PBR has been in discussions with the governments of Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia to overcome these obstacles. One possible solution is to reverse the flow of gas through the existing infrastructure that currently transports Bolivian gas to Brazil. In this way, Argentine gas from Vaca Muerta could reach Brazilian customers, including PBR.

The state-owned Brazilian oil and gas company Petrobras $PETR3 (-7,58 %)
$PETR4 (-7,38 %) has discovered hydrocarbons in the Santos Basin in an exploration well in the Aram block off the Brazilian coast.

The well, 4-BRSA-1395-SPS, is located 245 km from the city of Santos-SP at a water depth of 1,759 meters.

The well is currently being drilled and the hydrocarbon-bearing section has been traced using wireline logging, gas sampling and fluid sampling, which will later be characterized by laboratory analysis, Petrobras said.

This data will make it possible to evaluate the potential and guide the next exploration activities in the area.

"The Aram block is an important asset for the exploration of pre-salt potential, especially in the Santos Basin," Petrobras said.

The Aram block was acquired in March 2020 in the sixth tender round of the National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) as part of the production sharing with Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) as manager. Petrobras is the operator of the block and holds an 80% share in the consortium with CNPC (20%).

The consortium will continue the work to carry out the drilling project to the planned final depth and to characterize the conditions of the reservoirs found.

Petrobras $PETR3 (-7,58 %)
$PETR4 (-7,38 %) and the Riograndense refinery (RPR) have successfully carried out a large-scale co-processing test with 5% pyrolysis bio-oil (a non-food biomass feedstock) in combination with fossil feedstocks. Petrobras, Ultra and Braskem are involved in the refinery in Rio Grande, southern Brazil.

Petrobras provided the technology for the co-processing test in RPR's catalytic cracking unit. The test period lasted seven days and was successfully completed on February 17.

A highly specialized technical team from Petrobras and Riograndense provided support throughout the commissioning, start-up, operation and shutdown phases of the bio-oil supply to the process.

During the joint processing at RPR's FCC plant, the bio-oil was converted into different fractions such as fuel gas, LPG and components for the formulation of gasoline and marine fuel with renewable content.