Brazilian state-run oil firm Petrobras may redirect the oil it sells to the United States, sending more to Asia and Pacific markets due to higher tariffs the U.S. announced on Brazil, its chief executive told Reuters on Thursday.
Although oil and gas exports make up a hefty share of Brazil’s exports to the United States, Petrobras CEO Magda Chambriard said it is not an essential market for the firm. “It is not much that we export (to the U.S.). In general, we are not very worried,” she said in her first public comments about the 50% tariff U.S. President Donald Trump announced last week. Exports to the U.S. represented about 4% of Petrobras’ total oil shipments in its first quarter. The U.S. is also unlikely to feel a major impact if Brazil ceases exports, as the South American country has supplied less than 3% of the oil the country has consumed so far in 2025, according to consultancy StoneX. Chambriard’s remarks come amid uncertainty in Brazil over whether the new round of tariffs, due to take effect on August 1, would impact oil. The commodity had been exempt from Trump’s previous 10% tariffs. In terms of oil products, Petrobras’ exports to the U.S. accounted for 37% of a total of 209,000 barrels per day in the first quarter, but analysts told Reuters that the volume could also be redirected to other countries with ease.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Writing by Fabio Teixeira; Editing by Gabriel Araujo, Brad Haynes and Lisa Shumaker)