Seminar discusses Repositioning of Petrobras in the Refining Industry
The goal of the seminar, held by FGV Energy, was to present Petrobras’s plans for the industry, presenting its preliminary model of disinvestments and partnerships.
Last Thursday, April 19, FGV Energy held the Seminar on the Repositioning of Petrobras in the Refining Industry at FGV’s main office in Rio de Janeiro, gathering representatives from the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), National Petroleum Agency (ANP), Brazilian Institute of Petroleum (IBP), and Plural, among other stakeholders. The goal was to present Petrobras’s plans for the industry, presenting its preliminary model of disinvestments and partnerships.
At the event, the Business Restructuring Manager of the state-owned company, Arlindo Moreira Filho, presented a model divided into three fronts: regional breakdown of performance in geographic blocks; integration between refining and logistics activities; and Petrobras’s lower interest in the industry. To achieve these goals, the company announced a proposed institutional partnership with other operators in the Northern and Southern regions of the country. The Brazilian company’s stake in the project would be 40% in the RENEST, RLAM, REPAR, and REFAP refineries, which account for 846 kbpd of the domestic processing capacity. This step would reduce Petrobras’s market share in the industry from the current 99% to 75%.
However, despite the general consensus among participants regarding the need to foster a more competitive environment, ensure third-party access to the infrastructure, integrate development programs, and restructure Brazil’s tax burden, Petrobras’s plan only covered an initial phase of disinvestment via partnerships.
According to Decio Odone, Director of ANP, Brazil is bigger than Petrobras and there is room for other companies, which is important to be less dependent on imported derivatives and create an open, competitive and dynamic market, with a proper regulatory agenda.
The event was attended by Márcio Félix (Executive Secretary at the MME), Pedro Parente (President of Petrobras), alongside the Board, and representatives of ANP, Shell, BP, Ipiranga, and Exxon, among others.
FGV Energy plays a key role in this debate, since it closely monitors the industry’s steps through its ‘Mind the Gap’ research track, which diagnoses the Brazilian downstream industry, pointing out the main restructuring drivers, analyzing more advanced models, with the participation of multiple agents, based on several factors, including Petrobras’s divestment plan and monitoring the Brazil Fuel Government Program.
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