Petrobras — Company directory

Brazil's state-controlled integrated energy company, a deepwater and pre-salt production leader with refining, gas processing, fertilizer and biofuel operations.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., trading as Petrobras, is a majority state-owned Brazilian oil, natural gas and energy company founded on 3 October 1953 and headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. It reported production of 2.99 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025 and employed 50,687 people. Its chief executive is Magda Chambriard, who took the post in 2024, and Pietro Sampaio chairs the board of directors.

Corporate history and the end of the monopoly

Petrobras was created under the government of President Getúlio Vargas, when the campaign slogan for the new company was that the oil was Brazilian. It was given a legal monopoly over the country's petroleum, which lasted until the petroleum law of 1997 (Law 9,478) opened the upstream sector to competition and created the regulator ANP. Two early assets still shape the company: the Reduc refinery near Rio de Janeiro, which began operating in 1961, and the Cenpes research centre, opened in Rio in 1963 and still one of the largest energy research sites in the world.

The Campos Basin discovery of 1974 transformed the company's finances, and in 2000 it set a deepwater exploration record at 1,877 metres below sea level. Petrobras raised US$70 billion in a 2010 share offering, then the largest ever, to fund development of the pre-salt province. It later settled the Lava Jato corruption litigation, paying US$2.95 billion in January 2018 to end a United States class action and US$853.2 million in September 2018 to Brazilian and United States authorities.

Upstream: deepwater and the pre-salt

Petrobras concentrates investment on the pre-salt province of the Santos and Campos basins, where the Tupi (Lula), Jupiter and Sugar Loaf discoveries were announced in 2007 and 2008, some 300 kilometres off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. The company produces oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas offshore Brazil and also holds exploration acreage abroad. Its own 2025 production target was exceeded, as reported by the company's news service in January 2026, and its investor pages carry monthly production and sales reports as well as proved reserve data.

The company's international upstream footprint narrowed sharply in January 2020, when it completed the sale of its 50 per cent stake in Petrobras Oil & Gas BV and ended its African operations at that time. It has returned to the continent since, as described below.

Refining, gas and fuels

The refining system is concentrated in Brazil's South and Southeast regions, with the largest plants being Replan at Paulínia in São Paulo state (415,000 barrels per day), Revap at São José dos Campos (252,000), Reduc at Duque de Caxias in Rio de Janeiro state (239,000), Rnest at Suape in Pernambuco (230,000 across its two trains), Repar at Araucária in Paraná (around 207,500), Refap at Canoas in Rio Grande do Sul (around 201,000), Rpbc at Cubatão (178,000) and Regap at Betim in Minas Gerais (150,000).

Downstream operations extend into natural gas processing, power and fertilizers. Nitrogen fertilizers are produced at the Fafen units in Bahia and Sergipe and at Araucaria Nitrogenados, with the UFN-III plant at Três Lagoas in Mato Grosso do Sul under completion, and biodiesel comes from the PBio subsidiary. On the fuels side, Reduc marked its 65th anniversary having become the first Petrobras refinery certified to supply sustainable aviation fuel to the international market, Rnest set a historical processing record in August 2026, and Diesel R5, a diesel with renewable content, was extended to further refineries after Repar began commercial sales.

Ownership, listing and results

The federal government is the controlling shareholder. Its direct holding is about 29 per cent of total capital, with the state-controlled development bank BNDES holding a further 6.98 per cent and its investment arm BNDESPAR 1.05 per cent; the government and its entities control a majority of the voting common shares. The company is a sociedade anônima de capital aberto: common shares trade on B3 as PETR3 and preferred shares as PETR4, with American Depositary Receipts on the New York Stock Exchange under PBR and PBR.A and a listing in Madrid. It files a Form 20-F with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission each year.

For the 2025 financial year Petrobras reported revenue of about US$89.2 billion, net income of about US$19.6 billion, total assets of US$222.3 billion and shareholders' equity of US$75.6 billion. A 2026-2030 business plan and a 2025 sustainability report are published through the investor relations site, which also hosts the quarterly results centre, the financial calendar and the dividend record. The second-quarter 2026 results were released on 7 August 2026.

Activity during 2026

September 2026: signature of eight production-sharing contracts in Côte d'Ivoire, extending the company's international exploration position after its earlier exit from Africa.
September 2026: naming in Rio de Janeiro of the first vessel chartered under the company's Mar Aberto programme.
August 2026: signing of a drilling contract for the São Tomé carbon capture and storage pilot project in Rio de Janeiro state.
August 2026: a historical processing record at the Rnest refinery.
June 2026: start of the reoccupation of the company's Rio de Janeiro head office building.

General enquiries are handled through the SAC customer service line, 0800 728 9001, and the published mailbox [email protected]. Research, procurement and press contacts are routed through separate portals for suppliers, journalists and clients.