Petrobras pledges to press on despite protests

Environmental activists in inflatables attempt to disrupt the work of the oil survey ship Orient Explorer off East Cape. Photo / Supplied

Brazilian oil giant Petrobras says it will beef up its New Zealand operations and remains on track to spend more than $150 million on exploration off East Cape in spite of protests.

It says it will resume its seismic survey when it is safe to do so. Police yesterday warned Greenpeace protesters to keep away.

Petrobras' New Zealand project head, Marco Toledo, said that while there were "many things that can happen" it was too soon to consider pulling out and the company wanted to complete work that would lead to a decision to drill or drop the permit in three years' time.

By sales, Petrobras is the third-biggest oil company in the world with sales of close to $150 billion a year.

It says it requires protest vessels be kept at a safe distance from the seismic vessel Orient Explorer in order to continue work.

"We respect for their right to protest but we expect that they'd respect the right of Petrobras' commitment to our obligations," Toledo said.

Ensuring Petrobras can continue its work is seen as crucial to the Government's oil and gas strategy, aimed at attracting international companies with expertise and deep pockets to offshore basins.

With New Zealand basins regarded as risky frontier territory and more likely to hold gas rather than higher-value oil, the Government has promoted the country's political and economic stability as a strong incentive to explore here.

Toledo said Petrobras had not encountered such vociferous opposition in the 27 other countries where it was exploring or drilling.

"This is a singular episode in our case. We're used to being made to feel welcome."

He said working more closely with iwi would be a priority. "We understand New Zealand to have a stable business and political environment. We understand there are some cultural aspects to learn here."

The company would keep talking to Maori and intended to boost staff numbers here on a rolling basis. If it does decide to drill it would cost the company at least $150 million.

Opponents say an oil spill from a deep-water rig in remote waters off New Zealand would be difficult to plug, they are worried about earthquake risks and they question the economic and job benefits.

Toledo said every year the company drilled 50 deep offshore wells - in water at least 400m deep - and was a leader in the field.

Petrobras was last month given permission to start production from an oil and natural gas project in the Gulf of Mexico where a moratorium had been placed on drilling after the Deepwater Horizon disaster last April.

He said Petrobras had worked with the industry to learn lessons from the disaster, which was "unique".

Around the world it was producing oil from wells in 2000m of water and had explored in water 3000m deep. Those are depths that could be drilled in the Raukumara Basin if a decision is made to bring in a rig in 2014.

Frontier basins offer a low chance of discovering oil and gas but the odds improve when target areas are narrowed down with three-dimensional mapping.

Toledo said his company was accustomed to high risk.

In 2009 it announced details of two "elephant fields" that are being developed to produce billions of barrels of oil. The fields, 300km off Brazil, are in water 2000m deep.

BOYS FROM BRAZIL
* Petroleo Brasileiro or Petrobras is state controlled.
* Plans to invest nearly $300 million over the next three years, mainly in exploration and production.
* Is also involved in biofuels, retail gas stations, electric power and petrochemicals.