In a contrasting move, Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., better known as Petrobras, a state-owned Brazilian multinational corporation in the petroleum industry, made an announcement of investing and working towards cutting the carbon footprint into renewable sources of energy, over the next five years.
In a statement, CEO of Petrobras, Roberto Castello Branco, said that he would not be investing “a single dollar” in the renewable sources during the presentation with investors and analysts, charting out his five-year plan for the company. He also added that he has often pointed out how Petrobras has no comparative advantage in investing in renewable sources, labeling some environmental schemes and targets put forth by the European Countries as “ fanciful”.
The fanciful practices are hard to implement in developing countries—many activists and leaders have pointed out. Instead, Petrobras would direct its efforts towards emission-reduction by conducting studies in hydrogen-powered ships.
It is at odds with the comments made by Andres Opedal, CEO of Equinor AKA, the state-owned Norwegian energy company. He referred to the 2018 MOU between Petrobras and Equinor, where plans of scouting for offshore wind opportunities had hatched, which is unlikely, after the recent comments by Roberto Branco.
Branco also added that Petrobras is planning to sell a portion of the offshore natural gas pipelines through an initial public offering in the Q3 phase of 2021, but there can be further talks and negotiations with the involvement of stakeholders who have a say in this IPO.
