Climate resilience, GHG emissions, and other gases

Risks related to climate change are divided into two main categories according to the TCFD: transition risks and physical risks. Transition risks are associated with political, legal, technological, and market changes resulting from efforts to limit global warming and move towards a low-carbon economy. This may include new regulations to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, reduced costs of technologies, renewable energy sources and fuels, as well as changes in behavior among segments of society towards less carbon-intensive products. 

Physical risks can be acute, driven by events such as storms, precipitation, or temperature fluctuations, or chronic, resulting from long-term factors such as rising average temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns. Based on recent episodes of extreme weather events in Brazil, we have expanded the analysis of physical risks, incorporating new prioritized factors based on materiality. The operational and design conditions of our facilities are subject to these risks. The most susceptible variables include wind patterns, waves and ocean currents, availability of freshwater, landslides, floods, extreme droughts, wildfires, and heatwaves.
 

The growing demand for low-carbon products and services presents new business opportunities, aligned with our strategy of leadership in the just energy transition, leading to the profitable diversification of our portfolio. We seek specific operating models for each business segment, aiming to integrate competencies and assets with Brazil’s competitive advantage in bioproducts, hydrogen, renewable energy, and CCUS as shown in Figure 3.1.

For the 2025 and 2030 timeframe, we reaffirm our six commitments to reduce our carbon footprint with a focus on mitigating climate change. Our commitments cover 100% of the emissions under our operational control (Scopes 1 and 2), as shown in Figure 3.4.

The challenge of achieving net zero in operational emissions involves the need to make the technologies that will support this commitment technically and financially viable. To overcome this challenge, the Carbon Neutral Program has been structured with the aim of strengthening our low-carbon initiatives, accelerating decarbonization, and reducing the costs of decarbonization solutions, increasing the company’s competitiveness. It serves as a cross-cutting instrument that seeks an integrated view of initiatives across all business areas. This program has the following action fronts, as seen in Figure 3.5.

In 2024, we invested BRL 146.1 million in RD&I in Brazil for low-carbon products (related to the development of renewable diesel, BioQAv, Bunker with renewable content, and Bioaromatics) and BRL 91.7 million in renewable energy, aiming to increase technological and commercial maturity, totaling BRL 237.8 million invested in RD&I on these topics. Our technological deliveries reflect our strategy for the transition to a low-carbon economy. Figure 3.6 illustrates the main achievements of 2024 in low-carbon innovations.

Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

In 2024, we neutralized 185,000 tCO2 , equivalent to 3.39 million MWh of acquired renewable electricity. Abroad, our Scope 2 emissions totaled 141 tCO2 , representing only 0.0003% of our total operational emissions in 2024. We also monitor the operational emissions from our oil and gas activities in isolation, excluding emissions from our thermoelectric market operations. This allows us to assess the results of our efforts in reducing absolute emissions without the influence of thermoelectric dispatch requested by the National System Operator (ONS). As shown in Graph 3.2, GHG emissions from the Oil & Gas sector in 2024 amounted to 44 million tCO2 e, which is 1 million above the 2023 figures. The efficiency actions and loss reduction measures implemented in the operational segments mitigated the increases resulting from the commissioning of new assets. The Exploration and Production (E&P) and Refining segments account for the most significant portion of our total operational absolute emissions. Our public commitments regarding GHG emission intensity (IGEE-E&P and IGEE-Refining) represented coverage of 84.4% of the emissions from the activities we operate in 2024.

In 2024, we achieved 0.20 tCH4 /mil tHC in methane emissions in the upstream segment, the best historical result, as shown in Graph 3.5. This represents a reduction of 0.02 tCH4 /mil tHC compared to 2023. Contributing to this result were actions aimed at reducing gas losses in E&P, such as the operation FGRUs and reduction of gas venting, along with campaigns for detecting and repairing fugitive emissions. Our target for reducing methane emission intensity in E&P supports the goal of reducing GHG intensity in E&P as well as our absolute emissions reduction. It also contributes to the objectives of the Global Methane Pledge, a commitment established by Brazil at COP26 to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030 (based on 2020 levels)

In 2024, we injected 14.2 million tCO2 , the highest volume ever recorded in a single year. During the same period, 26 operational platforms performed CO2 reinjection. The volume of CO2 reinjection has been gradually increasing, associated with the commissioning of new units, especially those with total gas reinjection capabilities. Graph 3.7 shows the accumulated CO2 reinjection over the past years.

As an integrated energy company, we monitor both absolute emissions and carbon intensity across the value chain of our global energy basket. We also consider the carbon performance of each product to be relevant, as there are significant differences in emission intensity among various types of crude oil, natural gas streams, and fossil-based electricity. Graph 3.8 illustrates the emissions from the value chain over the past years.

In 2024, there was a 3% increase in NOx emissions, primarily due to increased completion activity of new wells. CO emissions, on the other hand, were 42% lower than in 2023, due to higher operational efficiency in the CO boilers of some Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) units in the refining segment. 

SOx emissions are more significant in the refining segment, which accounted for 80% of the total emissions of this pollutant in the company in 2024. For about 20 years, the indicator for absolute SOx emissions has been monitored internally, with alert limits established for each refinery. In 2024, the total SOx emissions from our refining facilities were approximately 8% above the alert limit set for the year. Considering the total SOx emissions of the company, they remained stable compared to 2023. 

VOCs emissions saw a reduction of 16% compared to 2023, primarily due to measurements that affected the calculation of emissions from oil storage in the E&P segment.

In 2024, the construction of the SNOX unit at the Abreu e Lima Refinery (RNEST) was completed. The SNOX is the first emission abatement unit in brazilian refining and in the Americas, with the capacity to convert sulfur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) into sulfuric acid, thereby adding a new product to be marketed by the company and reinforcing Petrobras’ values of Caring for People, Sustainability, and Innovation
 

In 2024, energy consumption at Petrobras reflects the company’s commitment to energy efficiency. The assessment, which includes the use of fuels from non-renewable sources and electricity, is illustrated in Figure 3.7.

We work in national and international partnerships with other companies and organizations to participate in actions related to improving air quality and fuels. Among these partnerships, we note the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), which consists of 12 of the world’s leading energy companies: BP, Chevron, CNPC, ENI, Equinor, Exxon Mobil, OXY, REPSOL, Saudi Aramco, Shell, Total, and Petrobras.

In 2024, we continued to invest in the voluntary carbon credit market, acquiring a new batch of 270,000 credits from the REDD+ Envira Amazônia project. These credits are from the 2020 and 2021 harvests and are certified under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) by Verra, the largest certifier in the voluntary carbon market worldwide, and have gold certification for Climate Change Adaptation, Biodiversity, and Community criteria according to the Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB) standard. The credits acquired in this initiative were used to offset emissions from the new Petrobras Carbon Neutral Podium Gasoline.

The ongoing projects in 2024 directly contributed to the recovery or conservation of over 535,000 hectares of forests and natural areas in the Atlantic Forest, Amazon, Caatinga, Pampa, and Cerrado, contributing to the mitigation of GHG emissions (with 2,557 hectares of areas under recovery and 532,671 hectares of conserved areas). 

The estimated net incremental benefit of the work carried out so far by these projects is approximately 3 million tCO2 e, considering net removal and emissions avoided through actions that prevent deforestation.

The projects also worked to strengthen the management of around 27.9 million hectares of protected areas28 , including actions such as fire monitoring, biodiversity monitoring, and sustainable management generating income through sociobiodiversity products in Indigenous lands and quilombola territories. These initiatives also monitor endangered land species.