Brazil should join OPEC+, says president of Petrobras – 12/01/2023 – Market

The executive president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, defended this Friday (1st) Brazil’s entry into OPEC+, a group made up of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) and allied producers.

In his assessment, the country should join the group with a role of cooperation and observation of decisions, but without participating in the production quota system.

“They call other countries that do not have the right to vote and quotas are not imposed on these countries. We would never participate in an entity that established a quota for Brazil, especially with the support of Petrobras, which is an open company on the market and cannot have quota”, stated the executive.

Brazil received an invitation to join the organization during President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT)’s visit to Saudi Arabia this week. The country, however, is still analyzing the situation before providing a response on the matter, stated Palácio do Planalto.

According to the president of Petrobras, Brazil will analyze the platform’s operating rules to make a decision in June next year.

On Thursday (30), sources had already told Reuters that Brazil should not participate in the OPEC+ production quota system, which could lead to cuts in oil supplies.

One of the main resistances for Brazil to participate in the quotas is Petrobras, which seeks to increase its extraction in the country, to expand the supply of derivatives on the domestic market. Furthermore, the company obtains important revenues from oil exports.

Brazil is the largest oil producer in South America, with a production of 4.66 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (oil and gas) in September.