Petrobras

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A.

Type	Public (NYSE: PBR / PBRA) (Bovespa:PETR3 / PETR4)
Founded	1953
Headquarters	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Key people	José Sérgio Gabrielli de Azevedo (current President)
Industry	Oil and Gasoline
Products	Petroleum and derived products BR service stations Lubrax motor oil
Revenue	$56.324 billion USD (2005)
Employees	50.000
Slogan	"O desafio é a nossa energia." (The challenge is our energy.)
Website	www.petrobras.com.br

Petrobras, short for Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., is a government-owned Brazilian oil company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. The company was founded in 1953 mainly due to the efforts of the Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas. While the company ceased to be Brazil's oil monopoly in the late 1990s, it remains a significant oil producer, with output of more than 2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, as well as a major distributor of oil products. The company also owns oil refineries and oil tankers. Petrobras is renowned for its leadership in development of advanced technology from deepwater and ultra-deep water oil production. 55.7% of Petrobras' Commun Shares (with vote right) is owned by the Brazilian government ^[1], however privately held portions are traded on Bovespa, where it is part of the Ibovespa index.

Pumpjack.

Petrobras operated the Petrobras 36 Oil Platform, the world's largest oil platform, up until an explosion led to it sinking on March 15, 2001.

Petrobras has expanded the reach of its operations beyond Brazilian borders. Today Petrobras controls oil and power industries assets, as well as related business activities, in 16 nations in Africa, North America, South America and Asia.

On 19 December 2005, Petrobras announced a contract with the Japanese Nippon Alcohol Hanbai for the creation of a joint-venture based in Japan to import ethanol from Brazil. The company, Brazil-Japan Ethanol, will have as its main object the creation of ethanol market in Japan.

The Financial Times newspaper listed Petrobras as one of the world's 500 largest companies in 2005.

On April 21st of 2006, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced Brazil's self-sufficiency in petroleum on board the Petrobras P-50 Oil Rig, a Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel.