Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR4.BR) maintained its aggressive growth plans, announcing Monday that the company will invest $224 billion over the next five years.

The federal oil company's 2010-2014 investment budget topped the previous estimate of between $200 billion and $220 billion released earlier this year. Petrobras earmarked investments of $174.4 billion in the previous five-year plan covering the 2009-2013 period.

The ambitious investment budget for the 2010-2014 period means Petrobras remains one of the few major oil companies willing to invest heavily amid lower oil prices and global economic uncertainty. The move also indicates the company is shrugging off technical concerns raised in the wake of BP PLC's (BP, BP.LN) deepwater disaster in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The staggering capital expenditures will be used primarily to develop Brazil 's massive offshore oil reserves in the presalt region, which is expected to be pricey and complicated due to the depth of the reserves.

The company will invest $118.8 billion in exploration and production in the 2010-2014 period, with $30.9 billion earmarked for presalt development. The downstream business, including refining, transport and commercial sales, will get investments of $73.6 billion.

Meanwhile, Petrobras's gas and energy business will receive investments of $17.8 billion, and $5.1 billion will be earmarked for the company's petrochemicals unit. Biofuels, a recent focus of the company, will see investments of $3.5 billion, the company said.

Petrobras plans to boost daily crude-oil and natural-gas production to 3.907 million barrels of oil equivalent by 2014, including 152,000 barrels a day from the recently discovered presalt reserves. The totals are pegged to rise to 5.382 million BOE per day by 2020, with presalt oil output of 1.183 million barrels per day.

The oil company, however, said it reduced its total production target by 318,000 barrels a day from the 2009-2013 strategic plan as part of its review of future exploration and production investments. The production targets also don't include any output from areas included in the proposed oil rights swap with the government, the company said.

The presalt finds were made under a thick layer of salt in the Santos Basin off the coast of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro states. The oil lies under more than 2,000 meters of water and a further 5,000 meters under sand, rock and a shifting layer of salt.

Petrobras will face a financing challenge to pay for its aggressive development goals. The company said that it will need to raise $58 billion in capital to fund the 2010-2014 investment plan. Petrobras also said that it expects operational cash flow of $155.2 billion in the period.

While the company is currently close to the 35% net debt-to-capitalization limit needed to keep its investment-grade credit rating, Petrobras said that it would maintain its 25%-to-35% leverage target for 2010-2014.

The company is working hard to reduce its leverage. Now that the cost of the 2010-2014 investment plan is known, the company can take another step in a planned share offer--part of the Brazilian government's complicated capitalization plan for Petrobras.

Under the plan, the government will grant Petrobras the right to explore and produce up to 5 billion barrels of crude from government-held presalt areas. Petrobras will pay for the oil rights in new shares, with minority shareholders also having the option to accompany the offer.

Analysts have estimated that the share offer could be valued between $50 billion and $60 billion, which would make it one of the world's largest-ever share sales.

Petrobras's preferred shares traded 1.4% higher at 29.89 Brazilian reals ($16.98) as of 1405 GMT on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange.

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