Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of profiles of leading operators, including key international and national oil companies, around the globe. The focus is on the company’s strategic direction, relationship to its government, major upstream activity, and significant technology challenges and applications. Petrobras, Brazil’s national oil company, has become an ever-larger player among world oil producers and, with the prospects of developing the country’s huge presalt reserves, this growth in stature will not only continue but accelerate. As Petrobras President Sergio Gabrielli has noted, Brazil will soon rank among the world’s top 10 producing countries, likely rising to eighth place. A key driver of growth in the global E&P industry, the company is a catalyst of technology innovation, and an important presence in the international oil sector—not only upstream but in downstream businesses. Established in 1953 and headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras for decades operated as a monopoly in Brazil and was wholly owned by the Brazilian Government. That monopoly status was ended with the passage of a 1997 law establishing a competitive Brazilian oil and gas sector under national regulation. While the Government retains a controlling stock ownership in the company, approximately 40% of Petrobras voting shares today are publically traded on major stock exchanges around the world. Petrobras was ranked as the world’s fourth largest energy company at the beginning of the year by consulting group PFC Energy, and based on market capitalization, Petrobras in mid-2009 was the world’s eighth largest company, according to Ernst & Young. Petrobras conducts business across an entire spectrum of energy sources, including fully integrated oil operations; natural-gas production and distribution; biofuels production and marketing, including ethanol and biodiesel; electric energy, including thermoelectric-, hydro-electric-, and wind-power generation; and other sources, such as solar- and hydrogen-energy technologies. Petrobras has a business presence in 28 countries. The company earned USD 15.5 billion on USD 91.9 billion in revenue in 2009, with production averaging 2.1 million B/D of oil and 2.5 Bcf/D of natural gas. Petrobras has proven reserves of 10.3 billion bbl of oil and natural-gas liquids and 13 Tcf of natural gas. When Petrobras began operations in the 1950s, its assets were inherited from the National Petroleum Council that had previously managed Brazil’s oil operations and consisted chiefly of two refineries and onshore fields with combined production of less than 2,700 B/D, meeting not quite 3% of domestic consumption. Onshore E&P activity successfully spread and expanded the company’s upstream operations, overcoming doubts in some geological circles that Brazil’s onshore basins could be developed technically and economically.