Lula Says Petrobras, Pemex Could Partner on Oil Exploration
(Bloomberg) — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he spoke with Mexican leader Claudia Sheinbaum about a possible exploration partnership in the Gulf of Mexico between their country’s state-run oil companies.
Speaking at Friday’s event, he said he called Magda Chambriard, president of Petroleo Brasileiro SA, at her request to suggest he work with Petroleos Mexicanos.
“Did you know that Pemex could receive significant assistance from Petrobras in jointly exploring for oil at a depth of 2,500 meters in the Gulf of Mexico?” Lula said he asked Sheinbaum, without providing any additional details about the meeting or a possible partnership.
Petrobras did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company, which specializes in deep water operations and aims to expand abroad to increase production and renew oil and gas reserves, does not have any existing operations in Mexico.
Sheinbaum’s office, Pemex and Mexico’s energy ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mexico’s president is seeking private partners to help Pemex increase output and revive falling oil production, which has fallen to half its peak two decades ago. Few major international companies have come forward to announce projects, apart from billionaire Carlos Slim’s Grupo Carso.
During the event, Lula also suggested that Brazil and Petrobras should consider creating a strategic oil reserve similar to the reserves the United States, China and other countries maintain to hold emergency stocks and cushion disruptions. The comments come as rising oil prices due to the US war in Iran put domestic pressure on Petrobras and the Brazilian government.
“This is not a quick thing, it takes time, but it is a strategic thing that Petrobras and the government should think about,” Lula said. “We need to build up a regulatory stockpile over time so that we don’t fall victim to what’s happening today.”
The leftist leader said Petrobras will seek to buy back a refinery in Bahia state that the company sold in 2021 to Mubadala Capital, the asset management arm of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund.
Lula criticized the sale of the Mataripe refinery under his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.
“We will buy it back,” Lula said. “It may take a while, but we will buy it.”
–With help from Scott Squires and Gonzalo Soto.
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