Petrobras slashes investment amid kickback probe

Brazil's state-run oil company is further slashing its investment plans by one- fourth, less than a year after similar cuts as oil prices fall and a corruption probe widens.

Petrobras says in a statement Tuesday that it will invest US$74.1 billion between 2017 and 2021, a 25 per cent drop from the US$98.4 billion promised between 2015 and 2019. It will also sell US$19.5 billion in assets in the next two years after selling US$15.1 billion in the last two.

The company says it aims to produce 2.77 million barrels a day in 2021.

Projections

These five-year projections have repeatedly plunged from US$220.6 billion announced in 2014. Prosecutors have implicated numerous businessmen and politicians in a sweeping kickback scheme centred around Petrobras.

Petrobras CEO Pedro Parente says he will root out corruption.