The News
Thursday 28 of March 2024

Brazil's Petrobras Slashes Investment Amid Kickback Probe


Pedro Parente, far right, Petrobras' CEO, who has vowed to root out corruption,photo: Wikipedia
Pedro Parente, far right, Petrobras' CEO, who has vowed to root out corruption,photo: Wikipedia
Petrobras' CEO Pedro Parente says he will root out corruption.

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil’s state-run oil company is further slashing its investment plans by one fourth less than a year after similar cuts as oil prices fall and a corruption probe widens.

Petrobras says in a statement Tuesday that it will invest $74.1 billion between 2017 and 2021, a 25 percent drop from the $98.4 billion promised between 2015 and 2019. It will also sell $19.5 billion in assets in the next two years after selling $15.1 billion in the last two.

The company says it aims to produce 2.77 million barrels a day in 2021.

These five-year projections have repeatedly plunged from $220.6 billion announced in 2014.

Prosecutors have implicated numerous businessmen and politicians in a sweeping kickback scheme centered around Petrobras. Petrobras’ CEO Pedro Parente says he will root out corruption.