UPDATE 1-Petrobras eyes Australia, Indonesia gas opportunities

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By Judy Hua

SINGAPORE, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-run energy giant Petrobras (PETR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research)(PBR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is seeking opportunities for natural gas in Northwest Australia and Indonesia, to expand its energy investments in Asia, a company official said on Friday.

Petrobras, which gets most of its output from the Americas, has put aside almost $16 billion for its international business in the next five years, and has been spreading its wings by boosting oil exports to China and acquiring a refinery in Japan.

"Asia can be considered a new frontier for Petrobras. Asia represents lots of opportunities for Petrobras because we need gas and there are gas in Southeast Asia," said Simone Totti Davidovich, Senior Adviser of E&P International Business Development of Petrobras.

"The countries we are focusing on are mainly Australia and Indonesia. Those are the most important countries, but we are not close to those countries," she told Reuters on the sidelines of an upstream oil and gas conference.

Davidovich said Petrobras was talking to some firms but did not elaborate on the opportunities it was looking at.

"We are talking to some companies and we have seen some blocks. I hope it's not that far away. I hope it's in near future."

Among companies working in natural gas developments in Western Australia are Chevron (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Apache Corp (APA.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Woodside Petroleum (WPL.AX: Quote, Profile, Research), ENI (ENI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) and BHP Billiton (BHP.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) in a joint venture with Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research).