Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras ADR Value Stock - Dividend - Research Selection

Overview of the Group

We are one of the world’s largest integrated oil and gas companies, operating principally in Brazil where we are the dominant participant. As a result of our legacy as Brazil’s former sole producer and supplier of crude oil and oil products and our strong and continuous commitment to find and develop oil fields in Brazil, we have a large base of proved reserves and operate and produce most of Brazil’s oil and gas production. In 2015, our average domestic daily oil production was 2,128 mbbl/d, which represents more than 90% of Brazil’s total oil production. Most of our domestic proved reserves are located in the adjacent offshore Campos and Santos Basins in southeast Brazil. Their proximity allows us to optimize our infrastructure and limit our costs of development and production for our new discoveries. Additionally, we have developed special expertise in deep water exploration and production from 47 years of developing Brazil’s offshore basins. We are applying the technical expertise we gained through developing the Campos Basin to the Santos Basin, which is expected to be the principal source of our future growth in proved reserves and oil production.

As of December 31, 2015, we had proved developed oil and gas reserves of 5,161.7 mmboe and proved undeveloped reserves of 4,988.9 mmboe in Brazil. The development of this large reserve base and the exploration of pre-salt areas has demanded, and will continue to demand, significant investments and the growth of our operations.

We operate substantially all of the refining capacity in Brazil. Most of our refineries are located in southeastern Brazil, within the country’s most populated and industrialized markets and adjacent to the source of most of our crude oil in the Campos Basin. Our current domestic crude distillation capacity is 2,176 mbbl/d and our domestic refining throughput in 2015 was 1,976 mbbl/d. We meet the demand for oil products in Brazil through a planned combination of oil products imports and domestic refining of crude oil, which seeks to optimize our margins, taking advantage of price differentials existing between the cost to refine crude oil in Brazil and the cost to import oil products. We are also involved in the production of petrochemicals. We distribute oil products through our own retail network and to wholesalers.

We participate in most aspects of the Brazilian natural gas market, including the logistics and processing of natural gas. To meet our domestic demand, we process natural gas derived from our onshore and offshore (mainly from fields in the Campos, Espírito Santo and Santos Basins) production, import natural gas from Bolivia, and to the extent necessary, import LNG through our regasification terminals. We also participate in the domestic power market primarily through our investments in gas-fired thermoelectric power plants and in renewable energy. In addition, we participate in the fertilizer business, which is another important natural gas market.

Outside of Brazil, we operate in 12 countries. In Latin America, our operations extend from exploration and production to refining, marketing, retail services, natural gas and electricity power plants. In North America, we produce oil and gas and have refining operations in the United States. In Africa, through a joint venture, we produce oil in Nigeria and have oil and gas exploration in other countries.

Comprehensive information and tables on reserves and production is presented at the end of Item 4. See “Information on the Company—Additional Reserves and Production Information.”

In the fourth quarter of 2015, we changed our reportable business segments to reflect the reallocation of our international activities into the business segment to which the underlying activities correspond, thus reducing our reportable business segments from six to five. Our activities are currently organized into five business segments:

· Exploration and Production: this business segment covers exploration, development and production of crude oil, NGL (natural gas liquid) and natural gas in Brazil and abroad, for the primary purpose of supplying our domestic refineries and the sale of surplus crude oil and oil products produced in our natural gas processing plants to the domestic and foreign markets. Our exploration and production segment also operates through partnerships with other companies;

· Refining, Transportation and Marketing: this business segment covers refining, logistics, transportation and trading of crude oil and oil products in Brazil and abroad, exporting of ethanol, extraction and processing of shale, as well as holding equity interest in petrochemical companies in Brazil;

· Gas and Power: this business segment covers transportation, trading of natural gas produced in Brazil and abroad, imported natural gas, transportation and trading of LNG (liquid natural gas), generation and trading of electricity, as well as holding equity interest in (i) transporters and distributors of natural gas and (ii) thermoelectric power plants in Brazil, in addition to being responsible for our fertilizer business;

History and Development

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A.—Petrobras was incorporated in 1953 as the exclusive agent to conduct the Brazilian federal government’s hydrocarbon activities. We began operations in 1954 and since then have been carrying out crude oil and natural gas production and refining activities in Brazil on behalf of the government. As of December 31, 2015, the Brazilian federal government owned 28.67% of our outstanding capital stock and 50.26% of our voting shares. See Item 7. “Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions—Major Shareholders.” Our common and preferred shares have been traded on the BM&FBOVESPA since 1968 and on the NYSE in the form of ADSs since 2000.

We lost our exclusive right to carry out oil and gas activities in Brazil when the Brazilian Congress amended the Brazilian Constitution, and subsequently passed Law No. 9,478/1997 in 1997. Enacted as part of a comprehensive reform of the oil and gas regulatory system, this law authorized the Brazilian federal government to contract with any state or privately-owned company to carry out all activities related to oil, natural gas and their respective products. This new law established a concession-based regulatory framework, ended our exclusive right to carry out oil and gas activities, and allowed open competition in all aspects of the oil and gas industry in Brazil. The law also created an independent regulatory agency, the ANP, to regulate the oil, natural gas and renewable fuel industry in Brazil and to create a competitive environment in the oil and gas sector. See Item 4. “Information on the Company—Regulation of the Oil and Gas Industry in Brazil—Price Regulation.”

Following the discovery of large pre-salt reservoirs offshore Brazil, Congress passed in 2010 additional laws intended to regulate exploration and production activities in the pre-salt area, as well as other potentially strategic areas not already under concession. Under these new laws, we acquired from the Brazilian federal government through an Assignment Agreement the right to explore and produce up to five bnboe of oil, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons in specified pre-salt areas. Additionally, on December 2, 2013, based on these laws enacted in 2010, we executed our first agreement with the Brazilian federal government under a production sharing regime for the Libra field. Under the law governing production sharing regime for the pre-salt area, we are currently required to be operator, with a minimum 30% participation. See Item 4. “Information on the Company—Regulation of the Oil and Gas Industry in Brazil”, Item 10. “Additional Information—Material Contracts—Assignment Agreement” and Item 10. “Additional Information—Material Contracts—Production Sharing Agreement.”

We operate through subsidiaries, joint ventures, joint operations and associated companies established in Brazil and many other countries. Our principal executive office is located at Avenida República do Chile 65, 20031-912 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, our telephone number is (55-21) 3224-4477 and our web-site is www.petrobras.com.br. The information on our website, which might be accessible through a hyperlink resulting from this URL, is not and shall not be deemed to be incorporated into this annual report.

· Distribution: this business segment covers activities of Petrobras Distribuidora S.A., which operates through its own retail network and wholesale channels to sell oil products, ethanol and vehicle natural gas in Brazil to retail, commercial and industrial customers, as well as other fuel wholesalers. This segment also includes distribution of oil products operations abroad (South America); and

· Biofuel: this business segment covers production of biodiesel and its co-products, as well as ethanol-related activities such as equity investments, production and trading of ethanol, sugar and the surplus electric power generated from sugarcane bagasse.

Additionally, we have a Corporate segment that has activities that are not attributed to the other segments, notably those related to corporate financial management, corporate overhead and other expenses, including actuarial expenses related to the pension and medical benefits for retired employees and their dependents. For further information regarding our business segments, see Note 4.2. to our audited consolidated financial statements.