Petrobras and BNDES Sign Protocol to Cooperate on Critical Minerals
The non-binding deal assigns joint research, gap analysis and project design to Petrobras’s Cenpes to advance domestic technology for clean-energy supply chains.
Overview
- Petrobras and the National Development Bank (BNDES) signed a protocol of intentions on Monday to launch joint PD&I (research, development and innovation) work focused on minerals used in electrification and the energy transition.
- The document was signed by Petrobras CEO Magda Chambriard and BNDES president Aloizio Mercadante at the bank’s 74th anniversary event in Rio de Janeiro with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in attendance.
- The agreement centers activity at Petrobras’s research center Cenpes and prioritizes information exchange and analysis of technological and production gaps rather than committing funds or concrete project timelines.
- BNDES has proposed inviting miner Vale to join the effort to pair Vale’s mining expertise with Petrobras’s geology and R&D, but any partnership expansion remains to be formalized.
- Brazil’s large reserves of lithium, graphite, nickel, manganese and other strategic minerals give the initiative economic weight and could create more local industrial work and higher-value supply-chain roles if studies lead to financed projects.