Petrobras

Petróleo Brasileiro or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in the Southern Hemisphere by market capitalization and the largest in Latin America measured by 2011 revenues.Petrobras was founded in 1953. While the company ceased to be Brazil's legal monopolist in the oil industry in 1997, it remains a significant oil producer, with output of more than 2 million barrels (320,000 m³) of oil equivalent per day, as well as a major distributor of oil products. The company also owns oil refineries and oil tankers. Petrobras is a world leader in development of advanced technology from deep-water and ultra-deep water oil production.In September 2010 Petrobras conducted the largest share sale in history, when US$72.8 billion worth of shares in the company were sold on the BM&F Bovespa stock exchange. Upon the sale Petrobras immediately became the fourth-largest company in the world measured by market capitalisation.Petrobras was created in 1953 during the government of Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas, with the support of both the ruling parties and the opposition alike in Congress.Petrobras commenced its activities with the collection it inherited from the old National Oil Council (Conselho Nacional do Petróleo, CNP), which, however, preserved its inspection function for the sector.The oil exploration and production operations, as well as the remaining activities connected to the oil, natural gas, and derivative sector, except for wholesale distribution and retail via service stations, were a monopoly Petrobras held from 1954 to 1997. During this period, Petrobras became the leader in derivative marketing in Brazil, and, thanks to the company’s performance, it was awarded the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in 1992, one which it was granted again in 2001.After 40 years of exploration, production, refining and transportation of Brazil's oil, Petrobras started to compete with other foreign and domestic companies in 1997. The Brazilian government created the National Petroleum Agency (Agência Nacional do Petróleo, ANP), responsible for the regulation and supervision of activities in the petroleum industry, and the National Council of Energy Policies, a public agency responsible for the development of public energy policy.In 2003, commemorating its 50 years, Petrobras doubled its daily production of oil and natural gas, surpassing the mark of 2 million barrels (320,000 m³).On 21 April 2006, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva started production on the P-50 oil platform, in the Albacora East Field at Campos Basin, which gave Brazil self-sufficiency in oil production.In 2009, Petrobras announced a market capitalization plan to finance its future investments in ultra-deep oil exploration. The share offering in the BM&F Bovespa Stock Exchange took place in September 2010, becoming the largest market capitalization in history, with R$ 120,4 billion (US$ 69,97 billion) in shares issued.

Net income 19.9 billion (2011)

Total assets 319.4 billion (2011)