Rio de Janeiro, December 8, 2015 – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras hereby responds to Official Letter 524/2015/CVM/SEP/GEA-1, which requests the following clarifications:

Official Letter no. 524/2015/CVM/SEP/GEA-1

“We refer to the article published in the Mercado (Market) section of Folha de São Paulo newspaper on December 4, 2015 entitled: “Without Sete’s rigs, Petrobras will be subject to fines of billions), with the following statements:

If it decides to withdraw from the Sete Brasil rig contract, Petrobras may be liable to fines of billions for non-compliance with local content rules in the pre-salt fields.
There are no official figures, but initial calculations indicate that the fines would be between R$20 billion and R$30 billion, according to executives related to Petrobras and the National Petroleum Agency (ANP).

For months, Petrobras has been postponing the execution of a new contract with Sete, which was created to manage the construction of rigs by Brazilian shipyards. The Company’s senior management believes it is best to abandon the project. With little option, Sete’s partners are studying whether to file for corporate reorganization.

Petrobras’ best option would be to lease the rigs from abroad, where chartering is cheaper. The problem is that, without the Brazilian rigs, it will be very difficult to reach the local content percentage promised in the auction. Because it is expensive, this equipment accounts for a large share of this account.

According to a Petrobras partner in the exploration of one of the pre-salt fields, when it comes to analyzing investments in the areas, the Company will certainly receive a fine. “There is no way it can comply”, he stated.

Given the above, we would like you to confirm if the content of this news item is in fact true and, if so, why such information was not deemed to constitute a material fact. We also request that you comment on any other relevant information on this topic.”

Clarification

Petrobras acquisition strategy aims at meeting local content requirements.

It is premature to make any inference on target percentages or estimated fines before the inspection procedure of each contract with the Brazilian Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP). The measuring method varies depending on the bidding round in which each block was acquired.

Any material facts on this topic will be timely disclosed to the market.