Advertising
Supported by
State-run Petrobras could soon become the world’s third-largest oil producer, in stark contrast to the country’s pledges to fight the climate, replace and halt the destruction of the Amazon.
By Max Bearak
Max Bearak reported from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil.
From his office window, the head of Brazil’s state-owned oil company looked out over the crowded landscape of Rio de Janeiro. On the other side of the city’s dilapidated skyscrapers, the statue of Christ the Redeemer. The hawks were turning around a heap of overflowing garbage. Plumes of smoke rose from a chimney in a hilly-looking slum.
His company, Petrobras, predicts that oil production will rise to the point that it could become the world’s third-largest manufacturer by 2030, a transformation that he says could play a role in reducing poverty on its horizon. The fact is that your country is positioning itself as a leader in the fight against climate change, which, of course, is basically based on the burning of oil and other fossil fuels.
Petrobras already pumps as much crude oil a year as ExxonMobil, according to Rystad Energy, a market research firm. In the coming years, it is expected to overtake the national oil corporations of China, Russia and Kuwait, leaving Saudi Arabia and Iran pumping more than Petrobras through 2030.
This is a huge and complicated situation for Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, better known simply as Lula, who has established himself as the preeminent world leader on climate issues. Clearly, Lula has arrived in recent years at this climate change. It is one of the main driving forces of poverty and inequality, which during decades of political career he has promised to eradicate.
Since his election in 2022, Lula has particularly reduced deforestation in the Amazon and overseen a significant expansion of renewable energy. But he will also preside over Petrobras’ oil boom and an era of developing fuel imports, either of which will facilitate the development of Brazil’s appetite for reasonable flights, meat-rich diets and air-conditioned homes.
As contradictory as it sounds, it’s only fair, said Jean Paul Prates, Petrobras’ chief executive, perched atop his company’s gleaming headquarters.
We are retrieving the content of the article.
Please allow javascript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience as we determine access. If you’re in Reader mode, log out and log in to your Times account or subscribe to the full Times.
Thank you for your patience as we determine access.
Already a subscriber? Sign in.
Want all the Times? Subscribe.
Advertising