10 Nov – Brazil’s Petrobras hunts for buyers in India as oil exports take off

RIO DE JANEIRO – As Brazil’s state-controlled Petrobras rapidly boosts oil output and exports, executives are looking to a new market: India.

In an interview as part of the Reuters Commodity Trading Summit, Chief Executive Roberto Castello Branco said that crude sales to China – an increasingly vital export market for Brazilian oil – would continue to rise amid strong industrial growth there and the ramping up of some of the world’s largest offshore fields in Brazil.

But Petrobras’ newly reorganized marketing and logistics division is actively scouting out additional markets, particularly in Asia.

The firm, for instance, has started hunting for new clients in India, which Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, hopes will be a relevant client within three years as it moves to diversify its buyer mix and minimize its dependence on China.

“We expect this to have a positive evolution in the near future (in India), in three years approximately to have a consolidated position in the market.”