巴西石油 (PBR) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Hi. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Petrobras webcast with analysts and investors about the first quarter 2023 results. It's great to have you join us today. We'd like to inform you that all participants will follow the transmission by Internet as listeners. (Operator Instructions) You can send us questions by e-mail at petroinvest@petrobras.com.br.

Today, we have with us Ana Paula Zettel, Upstream Executive Manager, representing the Chief Exploration and Production Officer, Joelson Mendes; Carlos Travassos, Chief Engineering Technology and Innovation officer; Clarice Coppetti, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer; Claudio Schlosser, Chief Logistics, Commercialization and Markets Officer; Mario Spinelli, Chief Governance and Compliance Officer; Mauricio Tolmasquim, Chief Energy Transition and Sustainability Officer; Sergio Caetano Leite, Chief Financial and Investor Relations Officer; and William Franca, Chief Industrial Process and Product Officer.

To begin, we will watch a message from our CEO, Jean Paul Prates.

Dear investors, as we open this event to discuss our results, I believe it is of the utmost importance to talk about the future of Petrobras and the perspectives open up by yet another quarter of solid operational and financial performance, the first under this new management team.

In these first 100 days, we focused our efforts on reorganizing the company's structure, preparing Petrobras for the future, especially to lead the just energy transition. We continue to reach production records in the pre-salt and to increase the efficiency of our refineries.

Our operating cash generation remains consistent and our debt reached the lowest level since 2010. We have solid fundamentals which underpin our plan to diversify our investments to strengthen Petrobras as an integrated, robust and long-living energy company.

We will always pursue returns on investments and reductions in the cost of capital, maximizing the company's value and seeking to develop the Brazilian market with sustainability.

Total attention to people is our nonnegotiable priority, because only a skilled and diverse technical staff will allow us to meet the dynamic demands of the market, especially the energy transition. The investment in profitable exploration and production assets, and in adjusting the refining facilities to the Brazilian market's demands are natural movements to ensure the energy supply that society needs.

We will continue our efforts to decarbonize our production processes and to develop greener products, which we understand to be the only way looking forward for the oil and gas industry, reducing its emissions and consolidating clean energy alternatives.

In fact, we are convinced that Brazil and Petrobras have all the conditions to be global leaders in a fair energy transition without seizing to be an oil power, establishing partnerships with other companies and taking advantage of the different vocations and potentialities of all Brazil's regions.

We will build this route alongside our partners. This is our path going forward. We make decisions always reconciling our social function and respect for our governance, honoring the trust placed in our company by our shareholders.

This is my greatest commitment as well as that of the entire Executive Board, which I represent. Thank you very much to all of you.

Thank you. Now I would like to pass the floor to Petrobras CFO, Sergio Caetano Leite, that will begin our webcast presentations of the first quarter 2023 results. Please sir, go ahead.

Hello, everyone. Good morning. I'm very happy to be here to review today in my first quarterly results webcast and even happier to talk about the important and solid performance that Petrobras delivered in the first quarter of 2023.

We had a very strong quarter from an operational and financial perspective. And I will take a moment to highlight several important deliveries. First, from an operational angle, pre-salt production set a new monthly record in February 2023 and a quarterly record reaching 77% of our total production.

In February, we also had a monthly production record at the FPSO Guanabara in the Mero field, whose average oil production reached 179,000 barrels per day. We made the first injection of gas at P-71, which continued its ramp-up in the Itapu field in Santos based pre-salt. The production of diesel gasoline in jet fuel in the first quarter of 2023 reached 67% of total production, 1 percentage point higher than the first quarter of 2022.

We also set production records for 10 PPM diesel at REPAR and REGAP refineries in January, and the REPLAN refinery in March. We advanced in development of more sustainable and efficient products with the certification of Diesel R at REPAR, the launch of new premium gasoline, the exclusive commercialization of fuel oil with a maximum 1% sulfur content in the domestic market and with the beginning of trading of Ultra Low Sulfur Marine Gas Oil.

Here, it's important to point out that we have recently undergone the organization adjustment to prepare the company for the future by creating the energy transition and sustainability executive also. In image, we carry out the remained procurement to resume the works of the natural gas processing unit of the integrated project [L3] in the GASLUB cluster in Itaboraí, with its structure for the new natural gas flow from the Santos basin.

Move over to the financials. I would like to highlight our EBITDA, which reached around $40 billion, a very robust amount for first highest Petrobras history. We had consistent operating cash generation with cash flow from our operations, reaching the solid mark of $10.3 billion.

The net debt-EBITDA ratio reached its best mark since 2010. It's also important to highlight that we had the lowest level of gross debt since 2010, reaching $53.3 billion. Return on capital employed reached 15.7%, the same level as in fourth quarter of 2022.

And our net income reached $7.3 billion and the free cash flow was around $8 billion, which are very significant levels. We continue with commitment to generate value and financial sustainability by distributing results to society, as can be seen in our fiscal report in the first quarter of 2023.

We paid BRL 63 billion in tax and government; we also paid $4.2 billion in dividends, bringing our cash levels to $15.8 billion. In terms of the external environment, in the quarter, we had 8% drop in Brent prices. And the average exchange rate went down 1% when compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.

Next slide. As already mentioned, we had a very robust EBITDA. Recurring EBITDA in the first quarter of 2023 reached $14.3 billion, in line with the first quarter of 2022, despite the 8% of devaluation of Brent, mainly explained by lower exploration expenditure and legal contingencies.

Next slide. Diving to the results by business segment. In Exploration & Production, the impact of the Brent devaluation was partially offset by lower expenses and higher productions, causing the segment's EBITDA to decline 1% when compared to first quarter of 2022.

In the downstream segment, EBITDA was 15% lower than the previous quarter, due mainly to the effect of inventory turnover with reduction of Brent between the quarters.

When we look at the replacement cost, the results for the quarter grew 3%, reflecting higher margins on oil products, mainly gasoline, due to the depreciation of the international margins.

In Gas and Power, EBITDA rose 16% due to the favorable scenario and the actions taken to building a commercial portfolio resilient to the business risks.

Next slide. As mentioned earlier, the resources generated by operating activities and free cash flow reached very significant levels. The level of cash flow generation, together with the inflow of resources from divestments were used to remunerate the shareholders, make investments, prepay debts and amortize the principal and interest due in the period and amortizing leasing liabilities.

Next slide. When you look at our debt position, we have a very comfortable debt profile in terms of liquidity and financial strength. At the end of the first quarter of 2023, gross debt reached $53.3 billion as already stated. That's the lowest level since 2010. Net debt was $37.6 billion, a drop of 9.5% compared to year-end 2022.

Our cash position remained quite robust, reaching $15.8 billion at the end of the first quarter. In addition, it's worth noting that we have available revolving credit lines of $9 billion. We closed the quarter with an average fund rate of 6.5% per year and an average maturity of 12 years.

Next slide. In relation to portfolio management, we are reassessing the process in which no contracts were signed. It's important to emphasize that the projects that have already been signed, which are in current closing stage, show beyond by the company. Up to April 2023, cash inflows related to these divestments totaled $2.1 billion.

In the first quarter of 2023, net income was $7.3 billion compared to $8.2 billion in the first quarter of 2022. This result is mainly explained by the Brent devaluation and lower financial results, partially offset by the lower operating expenses.

In addition, there was a higher income tax expense which was mainly due to the absence of tax credit in the first quarter of 2022 because of the dividend distribution for fiscal year 2022 as interest on equity.

In this first quarter of 2023, tax and government take to federal state and municipal governments amount to BRL 63 billion, represent a return to society of 54% of the company operating cash generation.

I finish here my presentation. Please, we can move forward.

Thank you, Sergio. Now, I'll pass the floor to Chief Energy Transition and Sustainability Officer, Mauricio Tolmasquim. Please, Tolmasquim, go ahead.

Hi, good afternoon. It's a great satisfaction that I'm here today as the first Chief Energy Transition and Sustainability Officer in Petrobras' history to present to the market the excellent results of [retaining] of the first quarter of '23.

Please, next slide. As we can see in the graphs, we remained aligned with our sustainability commitments with carbon intensity levels below 2022. The carbon intensity in our exploration and production operation reached 14.7 kilograms of CO2 by barrel in the first quarter of '23, is the first graph.

This level is lower than that achieved in 2022 and this is the result of our continuous effort to reduce emissions from our operations. We have reinforced the competitive business of pre-salt oil fields, which represents an increasingly relevant percentage of the company's total production.

Why this is important? This is important because the emission intensity from the pre-salt field is lower than the other fields, for example, if you look to Tupi and Buzios fields, both have emissions of 10.6, 9.30 CO2 per barrel, respectively.

So these figures are well below the national and international emission intensity. When we look to the next graph, at the refining indicator, you can see a continuous reduction in carbon intensity. This improvement is associated with increased energy efficiency, for instance, the reduction of gas sent to the [TOR] and process optimization.

Finally, look the third graph. The third graph I would like to highlight the decrease in carbon intensity from a thermal power generation. There are 2 explanations for this reduction in the carbon intensity: first, the improvement of the thermal power plant itself; and second, the reduction of the dispatch of thermal power plants, reducing the dispatch of the less efficient plants.

Next slide, please. So now let's take a look to the absolute emissions. In terms of absolute emissions there is also a good performance. There was an important reduction of total operational emissions between 2022 and the first quarter of '23. The same happened regarding the operational emissions from oil and gas, as you can see in the other graph.

And what concerns the total emission? There are too many explanations for the emission reductions: first, the improvement in our process; and second, the reduction of thermal power plants dispatch.

[First] slide please. In the first slide -- I would like to highlight in this slide the 3 aspects related to climate and the decarbonization. The first point to be highlighted is related to the climate supplement. In the period, we released the new additions of the climate supplement with information about progress made in decarbonization pathway, the carbon vehicle program and other decarbonization initiatives.

The document of the [takes] information regarding emissions performance in 2022, and the project already implemented, can be found also in this report. It presents also company's strategic risks and governance about the challenge of climate change. We're detailing the document, our actions to reduce metal emission, [oil] deposition on just transition and the strategy to use carbon.

I invite all to read this document. The second point that I want to highlight is that in the period, we made some important partnerships to leverage new business on decarbonization [front].

And finally the third point to highlight concerns our supply chain. We are reference -- sustainability by CDP indicated our commitment to encourage good environment practices and climate change, mitigation measures when dealing with our supply chain.

Finally, in the -- last slide, please. In the last slide, we are going to focus on the gas and energy segment. The performance of the period -- in the period was quite robust. It is the result of actions to build a commercial portfolio resilience to business risk that explains this good performance.

Petrobras continues working to meet its contractor commitments for the sale of gas. And in this quarter, it achieved 100% reliability. In the first quarter of 2023, the Petrobras natural gas market remained at the same level of the fourth quarter of '22.

However, compared to the first quarter of '22, there was a decrease of 16 million cubic meter spread days. 2 factors explained this drop. The first is the opening of the natural gas market in the country. And as a consequence, the increase in the participation of other agents that use -- that produced gas and used to sell it to Petrobras, that are now selling to the market directly.

Another factor that explains this reduction of the market was the lower thermal consumption, gives the recovery of reservoir levels in April. The levels of reservoir ended at 88%, very high level in the power sector -- Brazilian power sector [we serve].

The lower thermal dispatch, partially displaying the excellent results of the -- this follow-up in this first quarter. Why that? Because the drop of thermal dispatch need that less and energy was important at a time when the fuel is very expensive in the international market. So the lower dispatch of thermal power plant at this moment where the natural gas price is very high and the world was very good for Petrobras result.

It was also mentioned regarding the relationship with the non-thermal market of gas distributor, our commercial action to solve disputes that arose in the recent past and the signing of new contracts with an extension of sales portfolio.

That's what I had to say now. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Tolmasquim. Now we'll continue with Carlos Travassos, Chief Engineering Technology and Innovation Officer, to present the E&P results.

Thank you very much, Carla. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Carlos Travassos, Engineering Technology Innovation Chief Officer. Today, I will present both the results of exploration and production and engineering technology and innovation. (inaudible) made -- was -- underwent a minor surgery, and he was not be able to be here with us. He's fine, and by next week he's going to be back.

Well, we can start with the next slide. So you can see here that we have reached 2% growth on the operated production in comparison with the first quarter '22. We achieved 3.74 million barrels a day. What I mean [we're] talking about equivalent balance here. So we can see a growth comparing with the last quarter of '22 and then also 2.3% if we compared with the first quarter of the last year as well.

If you take a look in oil and gas and our production, again, we have a growth of -- compared with the last quarter. This growth was mainly due to a ramp-up of the 71 and for entry of 8 wells on Campos Basin and also improvement in our efficiency.

Going to the right, if you take a look in pre-salt, our own production, and we can see that increasing of the share of pre-salt on our total production. Here, we achieved in this quarter, 77% of pre-salt production as a share of our total production.

Now we can go to the next, please. And now we're talking about some achievements -- important achievements. We actually -- we have broken some records. We've broken a monthly record, 2.13 billion barrels a day that was taking place in February and actually a quarterly record with 2.05 million barrels.

And if you take a look and view our production as well, we have an amazing result with Guanabara FPSO, 179,000 barrels a day, what means 100% efficiency that was achieved on February. At the last time that we have a record wise in November with Carioca, so that means that we've just broken our own record.

We can go to the next, please. Now let's talk about costs. Yes, now I'm showing a little bit about our lifting costs in Brazil. Just to understand this picture, we segregate in 3 layers, so the yellow one is onshore and shallow water that will reduce our cost from 18.8% in the last quarter of last year to 14.7%.

This majorly related some portfolio movements that we have done. And then we also had results of lifting costs on deepwater, basically in Campos Basin, but not only Campos Basin, but basically there. And when we have here, we can see a drop as well of the cost, mainly due to the wells that we put in production. And of the pre-salt as well, we have a good result paid in due to ramp up of P-71, that so -- those results bring us a drop of [quality] costs from 6.1% to 5.5%, yes.

Now, showing a little bit about the total cost of oil production. So if you take a look in the last quarter of '22, that was 38%, we had a reduction of 11% on that cost. So here, we include depreciation, depletion, amortization and the government stake is considered here and, of course, the lifting costs. Here of course, important to highlight that here, we must include (inaudible) view of total cost, we are not including that numbers -- those numbers. The investment is not here, yes and the capital cost is not here as well.

We can go to the next, please? Oh, yes. Now, talking about our exploration. We achieved (inaudible) in 2021. And we are now -- we have started the extension we are drilling -- [iron] block, Curacao. So this is the first trial that we are doing, the first, yes. Here, we have 6 more to be done and to declare as a commercial one.

Okay. I think this is the last one for exploration production now. I start talking about Engineering Technology and Innovation. You can go to the next, please. Okay, you have a picture of (inaudible).

Actually just, these units we just started production in an area yesterday night to connect the second well that you hit. Reminding you that is part [Marlim] capitalization program. You can go to the next, please.

In my Marlim capitalization, we are going to removed 9 unit, going to replace by 2 units, Anna Nery and Anita Garibaldi. Anna Nery, we have start production. Like I said, Anita Garibaldi we are in the -- moving at this moment, yes. Actually, now if you take a look in our strategic plan, '23- '27, from these 18 units, we have 4 in the final location, the 71, that is already production that we anticipated. Anna Nery now is in production as well. And Anita Garibaldi, that is in moving process. And we also have (inaudible) that is ready to start production, waiting for authorization.

Coming back to the revitalization, that's a fantastic program. And then we intend to increase 20% in our production and reduce 6% of greenhouse gas. And this is a progress -- all the time that we're talking about production systems, they used to show the units. What is important to remind that we have an -- a subsea working in a very hard subsea working, especially when you're talking about revitalization, when we're going to build 14 new wells and relocate 61.

So in these kind of projects, we have a special feature that we also have to remove some lines here and there that's required for us synchronization and a very good planning to do.

Now we can go to the next, please. Okay, talking about updating our [stat] schedule for '23-'27. I think all of you are very familiar with this picture, yes. That's the 18 units that we are going to start operation and the strategic plan. We have made some shifts with Buzios 7 IPB, just highlighting that we're talking about.

Despite [all] that is change in the year, we're talking about minor shifts, is not so big. And there is no impact on our production there. In this slide, you can -- also can see the picture of 72 Buzios unit for Buzios that is under construction.

Now you can go to the next, yes. Talking about downstream. We have a very important achievement in this quarter that we [signed] the contract to restart our processed gas units in (inaudible). So that was interrupted next year. And we got putting back again in the fantastic time, in 6 months' time.

Now we have to withhold the contract, sign it and actually, the people mobilized on site. So we keep the planning to start operation in 2024 and another important achievements. The contract expansion of Train 1 of RNEST, so train #1, we are actually going to span from 115,000 barrels a day to 130,000 barrels a day.

And the completion of this work is scheduled for 2024. And those not information, probably most of you know, we have a ready construction. The air emission be from unit is the construction in progress in as well. Well, that's what I have for today. Thank you very much for your attention.

Thank you, Travassos. Now, I now pass the floor William Franca, Chief Industrial Process and Product Officer.

Good afternoon for everyone. It's a pleasure to stay here and to present the highlights of Refining segment in the first quarter of '23. And I'm so happy to be in charge of our refineries in our gas plants.

In the first quarter of '23 -- I'm sorry. We are going to prioritize 2 cases in this presentation, the utilization factor in our refineries and operational availability. In the first quarter, the utilization factor (inaudible) in our refiners was 85%.

We think that it's an important and excellent result considering that we had 3 big turnarounds during this period in REFAP and RPBC. We spent almost BRL 1.2 billion by maintaining more than 800 large equipments like we had the chainss, pipeline, pumps, towers and reactors.

And we have -- we had more than 10,000 collaborators contributed and performed in these big channels, helping us. In April, we had a traditional factor of 29% in the beginning of May. We are performing above 90%.

Regarding the operational availability in the first quarter of '23, we obtained a result above 96% which most of our refineries achieved the level of the best refiners including the companies of United States, okay? Take further presentation. Have a nice day.

Thank you, William. Now I call Claudio Schlosser, Chief Logistics Commercialization and Market Officer.

It's a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about our first quarter '23 results.

Next slide, please. In this slide, we'll talk about oil product sales. As you can see, there was a reduction in sales of oil products in the domestic market of 5% compared to the previous year quarter. This was already expected since the diesel and gasoline seasonally have a weaker consumption in the first quarter of the year.

It is important to say that in this quarterly comparison, there is still the impact of divestment of (inaudible) at the end of the last year. Even so, it is important to highlight that gasoline sales were the highest resisted for the first quarter in the last 6 years, driven by degraded competitiveness of gasoline in relation to Ethanol.

Regarding the foreign market, the drop of fuel oil export was caused by lower production to the scheduled shutdowns of some of our biggest refiners. (inaudible) by Director with (inaudible).

To conclude the topic of the product sales, I would like to take the opportunity to reinforce our focus on the market. The term market has even become part of the name of this board. That's why I want to highlight the startup of the new diesel and gasoline sales center in (inaudible).

This action strengthened our presence in the Midwest and enables the practice of a specific commercial action in the region. This is a very important milestone that guarantee (inaudible) in the region that should grow the most in the coming years.

Next slide. We will talk about it or explore. As you can see in the slide, talking about our stores, our main destination remains China. However, it is important to enhance that we continue to work constantly to seek global opportunities and to develop new clients, which generates more value for Petrobras in additions of diversifying the client portfolio.

Another key action is the market development for order oil streams as Sururu, , [Narrow] and Itapu. (inaudible) springs are already well known in the international market with the guarantees that better liquidity and pricing.

Next slide. Finally, I present the highlights of the quarter that reinforced Petrobras commitment to supplying more responsible fuels. We had our first banking filling new test with renewable compounds, with the (inaudible) ship that is in the picture and is part of the (inaudible).

This fuel was formulated with a 10% for biodiesel, reducing around 7% of in-house gas emissions. Considering the complete life cycle of the fuel, a big step towards the goal of reducing carbon emissions. During the 40 days of testing now anomalies were reported by the Q or operational differences in relation to the mineral bunker, samples of collective fuel and ship monitoring data are in the final stage of analysis.

Another action in the same line was that we started offering the domestic [car] market, excluding fuel oil with the maximum sulfur content of 1%, discontinuing the sale of fuel oil with a maximum sulfur content of 2%.

By ensuring that all of you order sold by the company in the domestic market has a low sulfur content, we help consumers in the industrial segment to reduce their emissions. I also highlight the sales of the new product, the Ultra-Low Sulfur Marine Gas Oil. Marine with the maximum sulfur content of 0.1%. The new marine gas oil is produced at the resident (inaudible) refinery, that will be the RPBC in [Cubatao], Sao Paulo. Previously, the products sold at the Port of Santos to long-haul and cartage ship [hauls], less conventional Petrobras marine gas oil, containing a maximum sulfur content of 0.5%.

And reducing this Ultra Low Sulfur MGO, we started helping ship borrowers to reduce emissions of the (inaudible) social upside in addition to avoiding a few new stocks on the way of vessels passing through the sulfur emission control areas, reversing the cost and the time.

These actions show that we are on the right track in developing previous use in guaranteeing lower emissions, generating great value for the company, society and the environment. That'll be the final slides and going back to Carla.

Thank you, Schlosser. Thank you all. We can move to our Q&A session. And the first question that we received comes from Bruno Amorim with Goldman Sachs and it's for [Sergio Leite]. [Sergio], Petrobras CapEx is poised to grow in the next few years under the current and possibly the new strategic plan to be announced.

What in the comfortable level of cash position the company should target, more, less or in line with the prior management target of $8 billion?

I believe that the levels set up in the current business are not very prudent. I think we must keep solid parameters in terms of liquidity and leverage. We want to always keep a robust financial [extrude], which allow us to face inevitable down cycles in oil prices.

I also need to be sure that our investments will be self-fund with our operational cash flow. Nonetheless, allow me to emphasize that the execution of the new business plan may result in a revision of the current targets.

The next question comes from Vicente Falanga with Bradesco BBI and it's for Travassos. The Company recently announced the delay in the startup of some platforms. What was the major cause of that?

That's a very good question. Actually, we have -- actually, it's a minor adjustment on the schedule despite of we see the shift from 1 year to another year, we are talking about a minor change and then maybe due to some perception of our risk analysis.

And this reception is regarding for the supply chain markets, both for top sides and also for (inaudible). But just for your information, if you take a look in an IPV that we're talking about 13 days of shifts, not too much. Of course, when you see a shift from a year to another year, it seems that you have a big change.

But here, we're not talking about a big change. But Petrobras, all the time that we have a change that appears in our business plans. We are very transparent and it is important to show up in different markets. But this change does not make any impact on our production curve.

The next question comes from Luiz Carvalho with UBS, and it's for Tolmasquim. Tolmasquim, we've seen a series of comments regarding the company's focus in the future, particularly with diversification of investments focused on energy transition.

Could you list some potential investment options, how fast the investment portfolio could be built? This portfolio could be made through organic investments or potential acquisitions. Will the company pursue assets in Petrochemicals, renewable power generation, offshore wind, fertilizers, biofuels, fuel distribution, new refiners or some other sectors?

In your view, is there any target on how much this could represent strong future investment plans?

Well, in fact, we are planning to clearly classify our investment regarding renewables. Let's say, we are talking about may be vesting in offshoring, green hydrogen, CCOS and other possibilities. We're still doing our strategic plan for the next cycle. So this strategic plan that we are be able to understand, to know which technologies are going to invest.

But the investment can be, let's say, true cost organic investments. But it's not just the possibility to make some acquisition out. So our preference for organic investments. We want to do this mainly with partnership with other companies. I think it's the best way to do new investments and mainly with the big companies.

And in terms of target about future investment plans, we don't have yet the targets because, as I have said, the strategic plan has been doing -- But I could say that we are going to do this with the financial responsibility. The idea is that it's possible to do some diversification but maintaining our financial indicators good.

The next question also from Luiz Carvalho with UBS, is for Travassos. Travassos, the company's current fuel price policy considers international price and import costs. What parameters could be used in a possible new policy? Is export parity for the domestically produced product an option? Then the company considers holding lower margins on the domestically produced products in order to reduce price pressure for the final consumer?

Luiz, I would like to take the opportunity to comment that although the current price policy is used a lot. What is up to Petrobras is to elaborate its commercial strategy.

That being said, the import parity is a reference to the cost of our importing competitors, but it doesn't have to be the only reference for Petrobras. We have other opportunities that we can explore through our installed refinery capacity, logistics integration, and operational efficiency, which allows us to compete efficiently, reserving the company's value generation. That is fair. That's the answer. Back to you, Carla.

The next question comes from Monique Greco with Itau BBA. She sent us a message. On behalf of Itau, I would like to wish the new Executive Board good luck in this new phase.

The first question from Monique to is to Spinelli. Spinelli, can you comment on the challenges you expect to encounter in your new position? And if possible, share some of the plans and ideas to be implemented during your term?

First of all, I consider that it's important to point out that we already have a very robust integrity. And so first of all, I think that we must consider that we have a very robust integrity and governance system.

But that doesn't mean that there isn't anything to do, quite the contrary. What we need to do is now to enhance this system so that it becomes more sustainable and totally aligned with our business. And there are important aspects related to improving our performance that can be considered such as our strategy to prevent and combat harassment. It's just an example.

This is an important point for us and we will improve it. Moreover, some technology tools can be incorporated into our compliance actions, making them more efficient and agile. We will enhance our compliance risk management, also focusing on issues that may represent risks of damage to the company's strategic objectives.

And with this, we will be able to identify the most exposed areas and work in a preventive way. But the point that I consider the most important is that we need to ensure that our integrated program is strong and responsive enough to protect our assets, to protect the company and at the same time to ensure our efficiency, respecting all the rules and focusing on people. I think that's it.

The next question is from Monique, is to William. Despite the refinery maintenance carried out in the recent quarters, the company has managed to maintain high levels of refinery utilization rate.

In this regard, is there still room to increase the current utilization levels? What would be the desired level of refinery utilization for the refining park as a whole?

The answer is, yes. We have got conditions to increase our refinery utilization because of 2 reasons, okay? First one, we are performing and operating our refineries with an excellent reliability, so important to remain in this kind of performance.

And the second one, the second point, is because we won't -- have got big turnarounds for the next months and to the end of the year. Then I think that we have a good room to increase our final utilization for the next months above 90% in order to capture market opportunities, okay.

But the goal is to maximize our production in the quest of our operations by respecting all of the aspects of safety, environment, health and integrity.

The next question is about E&P and I'll call Ana Paula Zettel. Ana Paula, regarding the equatorial margin, could you comment on the company's expectation regarding the approvals at (inaudible). If the regulatory agency President follows the negative opinion presented by the technical area earlier this month, could you discuss the medium, long-term alternatives for the company to continue to increase its production figures?

Well, Petrobras is awaiting for Ibama positions on the preoperational assessment. Do this an exercise to evaluate the company response capacity in an unlikely accident event. So it's part of the process. And we are pursuing that authorization to the next steps of the permitting process.

We are following strictly the requirements of Ibama. And there are no painting issues from Petrobras. All the research are in locations waiting for Ibama's authorization. So we understand that the activity in the region is very safe. That's the reason we have planned $3 billion to drill 16 wells in the equatorial margin.

But we also have investments planning exploratory phase. And we are monitoring closely all opportunities abroad. That's part of our strategy to build up our reserves and to manage our portfolio.

The next question comes from Gabriel Barra with Citi, and it's for Mauricio Tolmasquim. Tolmasquim, could the managers give us more information, return levels, time for construction on offshore wind farms projects being studied together with?

Until the moment, we have only, let's say, I mean more of understanding, some projects, some areas that we apply to environmental license at Ibama. But let's say, we are waiting for the establishment of the regulatory framework to start studying specific projects.

So at the moment, we don't have any figures about investment time frame and so on. I believe that is not in a short time of we are going to have this kind of formation.

Thank you all. At this time, the Q&A session is over. If you have any further questions, you can send to our Investor Relations team. I would like to thank you all for your attention. It's a very important quarter with a solid result from operational and financial point of view. Thank you all and have a great day.