During the morning of the event “The role of Norway and Brazil in the Energy Transition” (October, 9th), held by the Brazil-Norway Chamber of Commerce, Jean Paul Prates, the president of Petrobras, confirmed that it was important for the company to make more of partnerships with Norwegian companies in relation to the energy transition. He said that Norway was a good example of a just approach in this field.

“Norway is one of the countries that is making a fair successful energy transition, that leaves no-one behind. They are training the workforce, getting companies to have a rethink, transforming old business into modern business, and becoming a global leader in this type of technology. We are seriously looking for new partnerships for this new era”, said Prates at the opening of the meeting, “The role of Norway and Brazil in the Energy Transition”, at the Copacabana Palace hotel, in Rio de Janeiro.

The president of Petrobras also reminded everyone that Norway is an investor in the Amazon Fund, as is Germany, and argued that the Equatorial Margin could benefit if there was a change in Legislation to allow the profits from oil and gas production in the region to be donated. “We need to work together so that, in time, we will be able to show the general public that it is important to develop the equatorial margin properly and responsibly, which will also enable more to go into the Amazon Fund”, he said.

Prates also welcomed the fact that, in terms of countries, Norway comes fifth for the most deals agreed with the company in 2022, in terms of contract value. R$ 8.6 billion of new contracts were agreed and R$ 18.7 billion of contracts were already in place, with a total of 1416 registered suppliers. The main areas of these are vessel chartering, offshore logistics, subsea equipment and services, seismic and geophysical services, accommodation vessels, security and transport.

The Norwegian Foreign Minister, Anniken Huitfeldt, stated that “Petrobras has a critical role to play in the energy transition”. Anniken and Prates met, together with Petrobras’ director of Energy Transition and Sustainability, Maurício Tolmasquim, to present Petrobras’ initiatives and improve relations between the company and the country. The Norwegian ambassador to Brazil, Odd Magne Ruud, was also present at the meeting.

As well as the Brazil-Norway Chamber of Commerce, the event was an initiative by the Norwegian Consulate and Norway Innovation, a government arm that supports business development.