RIO DE JANEIRO -(Dow Jones)- The global financial crisis won't affect investment plans at state-run energy Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR), Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said late Tuesday.
Speaking at an event in Pernambuco state, President Lula said that "there will not be any cut in investments at Petrobras, not even one dollar, because of the crisis."
Petrobras, as the oil company is also known, is reviewing its 2009-2013 strategic plan in the wake of the financial crisis, which has crimped the company's access to credit to fund investments.
"The contracts we are going to do for the subsalt oil deposits, the contracts we are going to do for ships and drilling rigs, we are going to continue to do," Lula said.
Lula also said that planned refineries in several northeast Brazil states would also be maintained. Construction of the refineries, which include two that will produce oil derivatives for export to the U.S. and Europe, had been questioned in the wake of the crisis.
Earlier Wednesday, Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao also reiterated that construction of the refineries wouldn't be delayed because of tight credit markets.
"A refinery isn't built in one year. It's built in five or six years, and this crisis isn't going to last more than a year," Lobao was quoted by the local Estado news agency after a congressional event in Brasilia.
-By Jeff Fick, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-21-2586-6085; jeff.fick@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 03, 2008 09:15 ET (14:15 GMT)

Publié le 03 Décembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones