Refining projects halted, postponed, or canceled: RNEST-2, Comperj, and Premium I and II

The first refining unit of RNEST (Abreu e Lima) began producing fuels in December 2014 with partial capacity of 74 thousand bpd (design capacity of 115 thousand bpd).

Source: Petrobras — Form 20-F do exercício de 2014 (demonstrações auditadas, nota 3 sobre a Lava Jato) — Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. — Petrobras (SEC), May 15, 2015 · Item 4 – Refining, Transportation and Marketing: Major Refinery Projects · open original ↗

Financial statement (primary) · full text examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

In the 2014 20-F, Petrobras reported having postponed for a prolonged period the completion of Comperj and the second refining unit of RNEST, and recorded impairment losses of US$11.7 billion on the two projects in fiscal year 2014.

Source: Petrobras — Form 20-F do exercício de 2014 (demonstrações auditadas, nota 3 sobre a Lava Jato) — Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. — Petrobras (SEC), May 15, 2015 · Item 4 – Suspended Major Refinery Projects · open original ↗

Financial statement (primary) · full text examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

Limitations: In dollars; in reais, 4Q14 reports R$30.976 billion for domestic refineries.

Petrobras explained that the postponements of Comperj and RNEST-2 were measures to preserve cash and a response to the difficulties the Lava Jato investigation created for suppliers, and attributed the losses mainly to project planning deficiencies, a higher discount rate (risk premium of the stalled project), delays in expected cash inflows, and lower projected economic growth.

Excerpt: “measures to preserve cash and in response to the difficulties created for our suppliers by the “Lava Jato” investigation”

Source: Petrobras — Form 20-F do exercício de 2014 (demonstrações auditadas, nota 3 sobre a Lava Jato) — Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. — Petrobras (SEC), May 15, 2015 · Item 5 – Impairment of Assets (2014); same explanation in the 4Q14 statement, item 'domestic refineries' · open original ↗

Financial statement (primary) · full text examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

Limitations: Company attribution. It mixes management causes (planning, postponement to preserve cash), market/macro causes (discount rate, growth), and the effect of the investigation on suppliers; it does not quantify each share.

According to the 2015 20-F, Comperj had losses of US$8.2 billion in 2014 and US$1.3 billion (US$1.352 billion) in 2015, and the second refining unit of RNEST, US$3.4 billion in 2014; in the 2016 20-F, a new loss of US$1.2 billion on RNEST and Comperj (US$0.8 billion on RNEST-2 and US$0.4 billion on Comperj).

Source: Petrobras — Form 20-F do exercício de 2015 — Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. — Petrobras (SEC), Apr. 28, 2016 · Item 5 – Critical Accounting Policies: Impairment Testing of Refining Assets (2015 20-F); Item 4 – Major Refinery Projects (2016 20-F) · open original ↗

Financial statement (primary) · full text examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

Limitations: An impairment loss is an accounting adjustment, not a disbursement. The 2016 amounts come from the 2016 20-F (source:f03-sec-20f-2016).

In the 2016 20-F, Petrobras reported that the projects for Comperj's second refining unit and lubricants unit were canceled, that the first unit continued under a business model with partnerships, and that RNEST-2 was in the 2017–2021 plan, subject to own resources.

Source: Petrobras — Form 20-F do exercício de 2016 — Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. — Petrobras (SEC), Apr. 27, 2017 · Item 4 – Refining, Transportation and Marketing: Major Refinery Projects · open original ↗

Financial statement (primary) · full text examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

In January 2015 Petrobras's Board decided not to proceed with the Premium I and Premium II refineries (northeast), because the assumptions and conditions of the 2014–2018 plan were not met, and wrote off US$1.24 billion in 2014 for the cancellation.

Excerpt: “because the assumptions and conditions in our 2014-2018 Plan were not met”

Source: Petrobras — Form 20-F do exercício de 2014 (demonstrações auditadas, nota 3 sobre a Lava Jato) — Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. — Petrobras (SEC), May 15, 2015 · Item 4 – Suspended Major Refinery Projects; note 12.4 to the statements · open original ↗

Financial statement (primary) · full text examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

Limitations: The company does not cite Lava Jato as a cause of the Premium cancellation.

The 4Q14 statement records a write-off of R$2.825 billion of the capitalized costs of the Premium I and II refineries in fiscal year 2014 and mentions R$2.707 billion in 3Q14.

Source: Petrobras — Form 6-K: resultados do 4T14 e do exercício de 2014 (em reais), com nota sobre a Operação Lava Jato — Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. — Petrobras (SEC), Apr. 22, 2015 · consolidated results sections for 4Q14 and the fiscal year · open original ↗

Financial statement (primary) · full text examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

Limitations: Two numbers in the same document (R$2.825 billion for the year; R$2.707 billion cited in the 3Q14 comparison); the text does not explain the difference. Do not record as a sum.

Brasil de Fato reported that, on November 27, 2023, when announcing the 2024–2028 strategic plan, Petrobras confirmed the resumption of the former Comperj under the name Polo GasLub Itaboraí, focused on diesel, with refining units planned for after 2028.

Source: Em anúncio de plano estratégico, Petrobras confirma retomada do Comperj, agora GasLub, em Itaboraí (RJ) — Brasil de Fato, Nov. 29, 2023 · text of the report · open original ↗

News report · excerpt examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

Limitations: I did not locate Petrobras's primary statement. The report also records that the work was interrupted under previous governments; the date and later name (Complexo de Energias Boaventura, 2024) come from an unopened search and are not asserted here.

Movimento Econômico reported that, on June 16, 2025, contracts worth R$4.9 billion were signed with Consag Engenharia to resume RNEST's Train 2, interrupted in 2015 'in the context of Operation Lava Jato', with completion expected at the end of 2029.

Source: Petrobras retoma Trem 2 da Abreu e Lima com contratos de R$ 4,9 bilhões — Movimento Econômico, June 16, 2025 · text of the report · open original ↗

News report · excerpt examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

Limitations: The report does not detail the causes of the stoppage or cite a Petrobras statement; the date and amount were not checked against a primary source. Status as of October 2026 not located in the sources consulted.

For 2015, Petrobras attributed the limitation of its investments to the drop in expected oil revenues, the devaluation of the real, and limited access to debt capital largely because of the Lava Jato investigation, and reported having decided to postpone projects affected by difficulties of contractors or by the lack of qualified suppliers in Brazil.

Source: Petrobras — Form 20-F do exercício de 2014 (demonstrações auditadas, nota 3 sobre a Lava Jato) — Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. — Petrobras (SEC), May 15, 2015 · Item 5 – Liquidity and Capital Resources (2015 outlook) · open original ↗

Financial statement (primary) · full text examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

Limitations: The company's own attribution; it does not separate how much of the postponement results from each cause (oil price, exchange rate, indebtedness, suppliers).