PETRÓLEO BRASILEIRO S.A.: AN INTERNATIONALIZED BRAZILIAN STATE COMPANY

Abstract

Petrobras is the largest governmental firm in Brazil and has a solid path of internationalization. This paper explores how Petrobras grew in the domestic market and, in the light of the theory of the internationalization of the firm, moved on towards the international market. First, it shows the beginning steps of Petrobras. It then follows Petrobras’ internationalization moves to three geographic areas (America, Eurasia and Africa), all in a context of a global dispute for oil exploration, production and distribution. In the conclusion, it is showed that Petrobras’ main revenues still come from the Brazilian market. Its expansion to international markets, however, has grown in absolute terms and also in sophistication. Petrobras started with a strategy of searching for new sources of oil (inputs) and progressed to a new phase, focused on selling final goods and developing technology for exploration in deeper waters.