At least 39 banks extended around €55.1 billion in financing to Petrobras between 2016 and 2026, a period during which the company advanced plans to explore oil in the Amazon, according to a study released yesterday.
The report “In Search of Trouble – A Summary of the Risks of Petrobras’ Financing in the Amazon” was prepared by Stand.earth, ClimaInfo, Observatório do Clima, and WWF-Brasil and analyzes the financial, environmental, and legal risks associated with the company’s expansion in the region.
According to the survey, 64% of the financing came from just ten banks, including Santander, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Itaú, HSBC, and Bradesco.
More than $10 billion (€8.96 billion) were allocated to the oil company between 2024 and 2026, at a time when the company intensified exploration plans in the Foz do Amazonas Basin, on Brazil’s Equatorial Margin.
The authors warn that the financings were granted for general corporate purposes, not tied to specific projects, which makes it difficult to track the use of the funds and assess whether they contributed to enabling the oil expansion in the Amazon.
One of the cited examples is the $1.1 billion financing Petrobras obtained in May 2025, a few weeks before acquiring ten new exploration blocks in the Foz do Amazonas Basin.
The report notes that it is not possible to state that the money was used specifically for the acquisition of the blocks, but it argues that the proximity of the events highlights the lack of transparency regarding the application of the resources.
The expansion of oil production in the region is considered by researchers to be a high-risk operation environmentally and financially, due to the biodiversity of the Amazon and the operational difficulties imposed by strong ocean currents.
In January this year, a spill of 18,440 liters of drilling fluid in Block 59 led to the temporary suspension of operations and a fine imposed by the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama).
Beyond environmental and legal risks, the study warns of the possibility that part of the oil company’s investments could become stranded assets, i.e., projects that stop generating the expected financial return.
Between 31% and 86% of the $42 billion (about €37.6 billion) that Petrobras plans to invest in new oil and gas fields by 2040 may not yield the expected returns, depending on the speed of the global energy transition.
The researchers consider that the International Energy Agency’s forecast that global oil demand will peak in 2030 and then begin to fall increases the risks of long-term investments.
In the Foz do Amazonas Basin, oil production in Block 59 is not expected to begin before 2035, which could jeopardize the profitability of the investments.
The study adds that more than $33 billion (€29.5 billion) in Petrobras’ debt securities, accounting for 71% of the total, mature after 2030, increasing creditors’ exposure to a potential decline in global demand for fossil fuels.
The authors recommend that banks suspend new financing to Petrobras and to other oil companies that maintain expansion plans in the Amazon, unless they commit to abandoning these projects.
As a way out, the authors argue that financial institutions redirect resources toward renewable energies and other climate solutions, respecting the rights of Indigenous peoples and traditional communities.
