Multinational Oil Giant Shell Pledges Investments in Brazil

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – Reiterating that there is a favorable investment climate in Brazil, the president of petroleum giant Royal Dutch Shell, Ben Van Beurden, told Brazil’s President Michel Temer of the company’s interest in maintaining and increasing investments in the country.

“We have plans for a future together. We came here to talk about the confidence we have in the country and some points that can be improved,” Beurden told journalists after attending meetings with President Temer and Petrobras CEO, Pedro Parente on Tuesday.

According to the Shell official the South American country is expected to be one of the top investment focuses for the multinational in the coming years. Today, Shell obtains ten percent of its production from Brazil and directs fifteen percent of its total global investment revenues to the country.

Without mentioning the recent turbulence in Brazil’s political scenario, Beurden noted that Brazil has shown it possesses one of the most important factors for foreign investors: security and stability of rules in the regulatory framework and laws.

The oil executive also told journalists that the geology of the country makes Brazil one of the most attractive places for the multinational to invest in at the moment.

“The expectation is to increase investments and make the company one of the largest direct investors in Brazil in the next decade,” added the CEO, without mentioning the volume of additional assets Shell is planning on investing in the country.

Beurden stated that Shell’s partnership with Petrobras in the pre-salt projects remains a priority for the multinational, despite the negative news in the international media about the corruption scandal in the Brazilian company.

Without mentioning the scandal, the executive said that Petrobras remains one of the most strategic partnership Shell has in the world. “I have confidence of the partnership between the companies,” he concluded.