Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, can make money on its so-called pre-salt offshore fields after oil fell about 70 percent from a July record, Chief Executive Officer Jose Sergio Gabrielli said.

The company has several options for development of pre-salt fields such as Tupi, and will have no problem meeting its investment plans, Gabrielli told reporters in Rio de Janeiro. Tupi, a 5 billion to 8 billion barrel field announced last year, is the largest discovery in the Americas since 1976.

The company known as Petrobras plans to spend more than $20 billion a year on expansion through the end of 2012. The Rio de Janeiro-based company may increase spending in a 2009-2013 strategic plan that may be announced by Dec. 19, Gabrielli said. The company also seeks to almost double output to about 4 million barrels a day of oil by 2015.

“We don’t see any problem today to continue our investments in the pre-salt,” Gabrielli said. “The pre-salt is still viable at current prices.”

Oil futures traded in New York have dropped more than $100 since reaching a record $147.27 a barrel in July. Crude rose 2.4 percent to $43.09 a barrel today at 2:04 p.m. in New York.

Petrobras may be able to produce oil from its pre-salt fields in a pilot program for less than $40 a barrel, the company’s investor relations manager said yesterday. The company has approved a pilot production project in its Tupi oil field to produce 100,000 barrels a day beginning in 2010, Theodore M. Helms said during an investor conference in New York.

Espirito Development

The company may adjust its pre-salt development plans and concentrate in the offshore Espirito Santo Basin, where existing equipment and facilities used to producer shallower, heavier oil can be used for pre-salt deposits, he said.

Tupi and other pre-salt areas in the Santos Basin are further from shore, rest in deeper water and have few existing facilities.

“We have several pre-salt alternatives including Espirito Santo which is extremely viable,” he said. “There we can produce the light pre-salt oil more cheaply than the heavier post-salt oil.”

The world economic slowdown and credit crunch sparked by U.S. bank failures will hurt Brazil less than other countries, Gabrielli said. The company has no plans to fire workers and will hold exams for the hiring of thousands of employees, he said.

“There will be a general contraction of investments that will mean the future growth of projects will be slower than it is now,” he said. “Still, Petrobras, of all the major oil companies, has the best projects.”

Petrobras jumped 8.3 percent to 21.78 reais at 5:32 p.m. in Sao Paulo.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeb Blount in Rio de Janeiro at jblount@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 10, 2008 15:32 EST