By Brazil Stock Guide – Petrobras (PETR4) plans to raise its refining target and supply all of Brazil’s diesel demand by 2031, as the state-controlled oil producer seeks to reduce the country’s dependence on fuel imports and increase domestic output.
The new goal will be included in the company’s 2027-2031 strategic plan, Agência iNFRA reported. Petrobras’s current 2026-2030 plan had aimed to meet 85% of national demand within five years.
William França, Petrobras’s executive director for industrial processes and products, said the company is studying a plan to add 500,000 barrels a day of diesel A to its portfolio. The expansion would include 330,000 barrels a day by 2030 and at least another 170,000 barrels a day after that.
“That is enough for self-sufficiency, with the possibility of exports,” França said during a conference call with investors.
A large portion of the additional output is expected to come from the expansion of the Abreu e Lima refinery, known as Rnest, in Pernambuco state. The refinery’s original project targeted diesel capacity of 230,000 barrels a day across two trains, but Petrobras now expects the unit to deliver 300,000 barrels a day by 2028.
França also cited gains from existing brownfield units and new greenfield projects. Those new projects, he said, will be focused on biorefineries and biodiesel. Executives did not announce plans for new fossil-fuel refineries.
Petrobras Chief Executive Officer Magda Chambriard said the company sees an opportunity in the global fuel market after the war in the Middle East tightened supply of refined products and exposed vulnerabilities in international supply chains. She said the company would pursue the target in a “safe and profitable” way.
“We have a major opportunity here. With the war and the results achieved by the company, as well as the confidence the market has in Petrobras, we are addressing, in a safe and profitable way, the opportunity to reach Brazil’s diesel self-sufficiency. The analysis of projects is in our hands, and they will have the capacity not only to produce 85% of Brazilian demand by 2030, but to exceed those marks. And, very likely, we will be able to deliver a refining system capable of supplying 100% of Brazilian diesel demand,” Chambriard said.
The CEO said higher diesel production would also lift gasoline output, due to the way crude oil is processed in refineries.
“So, for the next business plan, we are talking about meeting 100% of diesel and gasoline demand,” she said.
The company’s near-term increase in fuel production is tied to the expansion and modernization of Rnest, as well as higher use of Petrobras’s broader refining system. The company’s total utilization factor reached an average of 97.4% in March, the highest for any month since December 2014.
Over the past two months, as Petrobras responded to stronger domestic demand and limited imports, utilization has exceeded 100%, with units operating above nominal maximum capacity. França said the utilization factor at Petrobras refineries reached 103% between Monday (11) and Tuesday (12).
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