01-03-09 Brazil's state-run energy giant Petrobras is seeking opportunities for natural gas in Northwest Australia and Indonesia, to expand its energy investments in Asia, a company official said.
Petrobras, which gets most of its output from the Americas, has put aside almost $ 16 bn for its international business in the next five years, and has been spreading its wings by boosting oil exports to China and acquiring a refinery in Japan.

"Asia can be considered a new frontier for Petrobras. Asia represents lots of opportunities for Petrobras because we need gas and there [is] gas in Southeast Asia," said Simone Totti Davidovich, senior adviser of international business for Petrobras.
"The countries we are focusing on are mainly Australia and Indonesia. Those are the most important countries, but we are not close to those countries," she said on the sidelines of an upstream oil and gas conference.

Davidovich said Petrobras was talking to some firms but did not elaborate on the opportunities it was looking at.
"We are talking to some companies and we have seen some blocks. I hope it's not that far away. I hope it's in near future." Among companies working in natural gas developments in Western Australia are Chevron, Apache, Woodside Petroleum, ENI and BHP Billiton in a joint venture with ExxonMobil.

Petrobras has no oil and gas exploration deals so far in East Asia and Australia. It holds upstream interests in Pakistan and India to explore offshore blocks. The company unveiled in January a huge plan to invest $ 174 bn between 2009 and 2013, up 55 % from the $ 112 bn planned for 2008-2012, bucking the wider trend of oil firms cutting their spending amid the economic downturn.
Davidovich said of the total investment, $ 15.9 bn would be for its international business, of which 20 % would go to new firms, including Asia Pacific.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, has been offering new exploration rights and financial incentives in a bid to stem an output decline, and is targetinga 50 % rise to $ 2.7 bn in spending from oil contractors this year. But there could be some obstacles for foreign firms to explore oil and gas in Indonesia, such as the production split.
"Definitely it's hard to find something interesting with those terms, but it's not impossible. That's why there are so many companies there," Davidovich said. "If there are positive returns, we will do that."

Only recently, Brazil signed an agreement with China to supply 100,000 to 160,000 barrels of oil per day and expects to obtain as much as $ 10 bn in Chinese loans to help develop its huge oil reserves to ensure future oil supplies. In November, Petrobras said it was in talks with top Asian oil refiner Sinopec on taking a refinery stake in China, but there have been no concrete developments yet as companies face higher costs.
Petrobras said last year it aimed to upgrade its Nansei Sekiyu refinery.