Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras
Company History
Petrobras History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 1953 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
When was Petrobras founded?
Petrobras was founded in 1953 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by Getúlio Vargas and Henrique Lage, making it 73 years old.
- Founded
- 1953
- Founding place
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Founders
- Getúlio Vargas and Henrique Lage
- Headquarters today
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Milestones documented
- 12 (1953–2026)
- Current CEO
- Magda Chambriard
- Acquisitions
- 3
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1953 | Petrobras Created |
| 1974 | Campos Basin Discovery |
| 1997 | Oil Law Ends Monopoly |
| 2000 | NYSE Listing |
| 2007 | Pre-Salt Breakthrough |
| 2010 | $70 Billion Share Offering |
| 2014 | Car Wash Scandal |
| 2018 | US Class Action Settlement |
| 2019 | Roberto Castello Branco becomes CEO |
| 2024 | Magda Chambriard Becomes CEO |
| 2025 | Equatorial Margin License and Production Target Beaten |
| 2026 | Record Production and Morpho Discovery |
- Where was Petrobras founded?
- Petrobras was founded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1953. wikidata.org
- Who founded Petrobras?
- Petrobras was founded by Getúlio Vargas and Henrique Lage.
- When did Petrobras start?
- Petrobras was founded in 1953.
- How old is Petrobras?
- Petrobras is 73 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Petrobras was created by Law 2,004, signed by President Getúlio Vargas on October 3, 1953, after the nationalist "O petróleo é nosso" (the oil is ours) campaign. It held a legal monopoly over Brazilian oil exploration, production and refining until the 1997 Oil Law opened the sector to competition. Offshore discoveries in the Campos Basin in the 1970s and the pre-salt finds of 2006-2007 turned it into a deepwater specialist, while the Lava Jato (Car Wash) bribery scandal that surfaced in 2014 forced a long governance and debt clean-up.
Founders
Getúlio Vargas
Petrobras possesses a nationalistic, geopolitical founding story, rooted entirely in the aggressive push for Brazilian industrial independence following World War II and defined by a successful public pressure campaign. The company was officially founded in 1953 by Getúlio Vargas, the populist, powerful President of Brazil. At the time Brazil was dependent on heavily importing expensive foreign oil which was draining the national treasury and stunting industrial development. Furthermore, the global oil market was dominated by the 'Seven Sisters' (the cartelized American and European oil giants like Standard Oil and BP). In the late 1940s, an aggressive, patriotic popular movement swept across Brazil. The movement's famous, resonant slogan was 'O petróleo é nosso' ('The oil is ours'). Millions of Brazilian citizens, passionate students, and nationalistic military officers protested, demanding that foreign corporations must never be allowed to exploit Brazilian natural resources. Yielding to this overwhelming public pressure, President Vargas signed the historic law creating Petrobras in 1953, explicitly granting the state-owned company a legal monopoly over the lucrative exploration, production, refining, and transportation of all oil in Brazil. This nationalistic, state-sponsored origin established the complex, political corporate DNA of Petrobras. It was never intended to be a purely capitalist enterprise; from its inception it was designed to be the strategic engine of Brazilian national sovereignty. Getúlio Vargas was born in 1882 in São Borja. Education: Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.
Henrique Lage
Henrique Alberto da Costa Lage was a Brazilian engineer and industrialist who is widely considered the father of the Brazilian oil industry. Operating during the early 20th century, when the global oil market was dominated by foreign majors like Standard Oil and Royal Dutch Shell, Lage recognized the potential for domestic oil production in Brazil and invested heavily in the construction of the country's first oil refinery in the state of Bahia. His decision to challenge the foreign monopoly was a bold move that attracted the attention of the international oil companies, who responded by launching a price war that ultimately forced Lage to sell his assets to Standard Oil in 1928. Despite this setback, Lage's early geological surveys in the Recôncavo basin provided the initial proof of concept that Brazil possessed commercial oil reserves, and his advocacy for a national oil policy influenced the subsequent generation of Brazilian leaders, including Getúlio Vargas. Lage's legacy is the inspiration he provided for the 'O Petróleo é Nosso' campaign and the creation of Petrobras, a legacy that is honored by the company's continued focus on domestic oil production and technological self-sufficiency. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Key Milestones
Petrobras Created
Law 2,004, signed by President Getúlio Vargas on October 3, 1953, created Petrobras as Brazil's state oil company with a monopoly over the sector.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgCampos Basin Discovery
The Garoupa discovery in the offshore Campos Basin set Petrobras on its deepwater path.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgOil Law Ends Monopoly
Brazil's Oil Law opened exploration and production to other companies and created the ANP regulator.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgPre-Salt Breakthrough
Petrobras announced the Tupi (now Lula/Tupi) pre-salt discovery in the Santos Basin, transforming its resource base.
Source: en.wikipedia.org$70 Billion Share Offering
Petrobras raised about $70 billion in September 2010 in what was then the largest share offering in history.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgCar Wash Scandal
The Lava Jato investigation exposed a contractor bribery scheme, reshaping governance and forcing write-offs.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgUS Class Action Settlement
Petrobras agreed in January 2018 to pay $2.95 billion to settle a US shareholder class action over the Car Wash scandal.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgRoberto Castello Branco becomes CEO
Roberto Castello Branco became CEO of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras in 2019. Economist who led Petrobras from 2019 to 2021, focusing on deleveraging, pre-salt and divestments including BR Distribuidora and refinery sales.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgMagda Chambriard Becomes CEO
Former ANP director-general Magda Chambriard replaced Jean Paul Prates as CEO in May 2024.
Source: petrobras.com.brEquatorial Margin License and Production Target Beaten
IBAMA licensed drilling in the Foz do Amazonas block FZA-M-59 in October 2025, and Petrobras produced 3.0 million boe per day against a 2.8 million goal.
Source: sec.govRecord Production and Morpho Discovery
Petrobras produced a record 3.34 million boe per day in Q2 2026 after P-79 first oil at Búzios, and announced a hydrocarbon find at the Morpho well in the Foz do Amazonas basin in August 2026.
Source: finance.yahoo.comMajor Acquisitions
Búzios Transfer-of-Rights Surplus (90% stake)
2019Petrobras led the consortium that won the Búzios surplus in Brazil's November 2019 transfer-of-rights auction, alongside Chinese partners CNOOC and CNODC.
São Tomé and Príncipe and Campos Basin acreage
2026Petrobras acquired interests in offshore blocks in São Tomé and Príncipe and in Brazil's Campos Basin to support reserve replacement.
Perez Companc (Pecom Energia)
2002Petrobras bought a controlling 58.6 percent stake in the Argentine energy group Perez Companc in 2002 to expand outside Brazil.
Keep researching Petrobras
Petrobras Company History FAQ
What are the major historical milestones of Petrobras since 1953?
Key historical milestones include: 1953 founding by President Getúlio Vargas; 1968 first offshore well in Guaricema; 1974 Garoupa discovery in Campos Basin; 1997 end of statutory monopoly and creation of ANP; 2000 NYSE ADR listing; 2006 historic Pre-Salt discovery (Tupi/Lula); 2010 $70B record capital raise; 2016-2022 historic debt reduction; and 2024 launch of Magda Chambriard's strategic expansion.
How did the 2006 Pre-Salt discovery transform Petrobras and Brazil's global standing?
In 2006, Petrobras drillships drilled through 2,000 meters of salt in the Santos Basin to discover the Tupi (now Lula) and Búzios fields. The Pre-Salt discovery uncovered over 50 billion barrels of recoverable light crude, catapulting Brazil into the top echelon of global oil powers.
What was Petrobras's historic $70 billion public share offering in 2010?
In September 2010, Petrobras completed a record-breaking $70 billion global share offering on the BM&FBOVESPA (B3) and NYSE to fund the large multi-billion-dollar development of Pre-Salt FPSOs and subsea pipelines, remaining the largest public share sale in world financial history.
How did Petrobras recover from the 'Operation Car Wash' (Lava Jato) crisis?
Beginning in 2014, federal anti-corruption investigations uncovered systemic political procurement kickbacks. Petrobras responded by creating a high-quality compliance department, overhauling executive vetting, cooperating with the US Department of Justice (settling in 2018), and winning back billions in recovered funds.
How did Petrobras achieve the OTC Distinguished Achievement Award for deepwater innovation?
Petrobras is a five-time recipient of the prestigious Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) Distinguished Achievement Award (1992, 2001, 2015, 2019, 2020), recognized globally for pioneering deepwater drilling, subsea boosting, Pre-Salt production, and ultra-deepwater CCUS.
How did Petrobras transition its refining fleet to produce ultra-low-sulfur Diesel S-10?
Over the 2010s, Petrobras invested billions in catalytic hydrodesulfurization (HDS) units across its refineries, replacing high-sulfur diesel with Diesel S-10 (under 10 parts per million sulfur), drastically reducing vehicle particulate emissions across Brazilian metropolitan areas.
What was Petrobras's production milestone in the Búzios field in 2023-2024?
In 2023-2024, the Búzios field surpassed cumulative production of 1 billion barrels of oil in just five years of operation, setting an offshore world record for rapid deepwater field development.
What is Petrobras's long-term vision for Brazil's sustainable energy future?
Petrobras's vision is to lead Brazil's fair and inclusive energy transition: producing low-carbon, low-cost oil from the Pre-Salt to finance the national development of renewable fuels, green chemistry, and offshore clean energy for generations to come.
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