Rio - The International Director of Petrobras, Nestor Cerveró, confirmed today the Brazilian company's internationalization plans and its intention to invest US$ 7.5 billion between now and 2010 - around US$ 1.1 billion per year, on the average - on the company's activities in the international area.

Petrobras is currently engaged in exploration and production activities in practically all the countries of South America (with the exception of Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay), Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, the United States, Angola and Nigeria on the African continent, and the United Kingdom.

Daily production abroad currently amounts to 246 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (natural gas and petroleum), which the company intends to increase to more than 600 thousand by 2010, as a result of the investments that are projected.

Classified once again in first place among the country's 500 largest enterprises, Petrobras also ended the year of 2003 as the most profitable among them, according to the magazine "Economic Conjuncture," published by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation's Brazilian Institute of Economics. The public enterprise closed last year with a net profit of US$ 6.09 billion (R$ 17.52 billion), its best result since its creation 50 years ago.

Petrobras, Telemar, the Vale do Rio Doce Company, Telefônica, and Eletrobrás were ranked by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation as the country's five biggest companies. According to the "Economic Conjuncture," petroleum, metallurgy, and electric energy were the sectors that earned the largest net profits last year. Of the 500 "biggest," the 104 companies that operate in these sectors made profits of US$ 12.3 billion (R$ 35.51 billion), 58% of the US$ 21.3 billion (R$ 61.24 billion) obtained by the 500 biggest companies as a whole.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Nielmar de Oliveira
Translator: David Silberstein
09/21/2004