(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR) is scheduled to release its fiscal third quarter financial results after the market close on Friday, November 13, 2009. Analysts currently expect the company to report earnings of 7.02 billion reais or around $4.10 billion.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A, is Brazil's national oil company, engages in the exploration, exploitation, and production of oil and gas, and energy in Brazil and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Exploration and Production, Supply, Gas and Energy, and Distribution. The Brazilian government owns approximately 32% of Petrobras common stock. The integrated energy company operates in 27 countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.

In August, the company reported that its second-quarter net profit fell 20 percent, hurt by lower oil prices and weak demand. Net income totaled 7.73 billion reais ($4.16 billion) compared with 9.72 billion reais in the second quarter of 2008. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were 17.51 billion reais compared with 18.63 billion reais the year before. The oil giant had been expected to post a net profit of 6.97 billion reais ($3.81 billion) and EBITDA of 14.50 billion reais.

Petrobras Chief Executive Officer Jose Sergio Gabrielli said in September that its proven oil reserves may more than double in two to three years to as much as 35 billion barrels. Petrobras plans to invest about $170 billion in the next five years to boost crude output by 53 percent.

Petrobras' domestic oil and gas production target for 2009 is an average of 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent a day. Last month, the company announced that its domestic oil output rose 1.2 percent in September to a new record just above 2.00 million barrels per day (bpd) from 1.98 million bpd in August.

Early this year, Petrobras started pumping out 30,000 barrels of oil a day from Brazil's Tupi field, a very deep offshore field off of the Rio de Janeiro coast. When fully operational, by 2010, the field will net 100,000 barrels per day. Tupi, discovered in November 2007,is estimated to contain 5 billion to 8 billion barrels of crude and is being seen as the largest find in the Americas since Mexico's Cantarell. Though expensive to tap, the vast size of the country's oil reserves is expected to offset the steep costs of development. The company's offshore oil discoveries remain economically viable with oil at $45 a barrel or higher.

Petroleo Brasileiro is also quite determined to invest in overseas oil and gas projects. Early in November, Peruvian President Alan Garcia announced that Brazil's state-controlled oil company may have discovered at least 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in Peru's southern Amazon jungle. The block may hold as much as 5 trillion cubic feet, Peru's president said. However, the company has refused to confirm Garcia's claim.

Early this month, Petrobras signed a contract finalizing a historic 10-year, $10 billion loan from China Development Bank Corp, the biggest-ever financing deal between a Chinese entity and a Brazilian company or institution. The company aims to export 150,000 barrels of oil a day in the first year of the contract and 200,000 barrels a day over the following nine years. The investment is expected to allow the company to increase its output from 2.4 million barrels per day of oil equivalent in 2008 to up to 3.6 million boe in 2013 and up to 5.7 million boe in 2020.

The company stands to benefit from rising crude oil price. Most of its investment plan is viable providing international oil prices are at least $37 a barrel this year. Crude oil prices are up 78% this year amid optimism that the global economic recovery would boos fuel demand.

In terms of stock performance, Petrobras shares have gained 95% since the beginning of the year. Shares of the company fell 49 cents or 0.96% to $50.42 in midday trade on Thursday.

Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.