Shell plans to invest $10 billion in the South American nation over the next 5 years, Wael Sawan, the company’s executive Vice-President for deep water, said in an interview on November 10, 2016.
«We are by far the largest foreign investor,» Mr. Sawan said. «Every single year we will be investing around $2 billion... The fundamental view that foreign investment is good for the country, and specifically in the oil and gas sector…gives us confidence that we are welcome here.»
New investments could be made by Shell in oil industry auctions planned next year, Shell´s CEO Van Beurden said, and the company will look at opportunities in distribution at a time that Petrobras is considering selling a big stake in its subsidiary BR Distribuidora. «If there are opportunities, we will also look at the possibility of deepening our portfolio in the downstream area», he said.
According to Ben van Beurden and André Araújo, CEO of Shell Brasil, respectively, this amount will be allocated primarily to projects associated with Petrobras in the Brazilian pre-salt layer.
«And this includes the portfolio that we acquired with the purchase of [oil company] BG and also the Libra field [Santos basin],» said Ben van Beurden after the meeting. «At the same time we will look for new opportunities, such as the auctions next year and new pre-salt auctions that could come in 2018 and beyond. If there are opportunities, we will look to expand our investments,» he added.
Company executives say Shell’s 103-year presence in Brazil makes them comfortable with the country’s often-challenging investment environment.
