The flexibility of the rules to allow the performance of more oil in pre-salt layer will attract new investment to the sector, it said today (11) the executive secretary of the Brazilian Institute of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (IBP), Antonio Guimarães. According to the estimates of IBP, only in areas already discovered pre-salt, and beyond the limits of the blocks already granted, investments may exceed US $ 100 billion.

The IBP has been a leading voice in defense of relaxation, approved last week in Congress. The measure, however, is disputed by the Single Federation of Oil Workers, which brings together industry workers and experts.

During a press conference to detail the Rio Oil & Gas, one of the largest fairs in the area, organized by IBP and scheduled for the end of October, in Rio, Guimarães said that in the current global economic scenario, Petrobras, was not able to be the only operator in the pre-salt exploration. According to him, with the easing other companies will be encouraged to participate in the process, accelerating production and generating jobs, income and taxes for the country.

"[With] only one company [Petrobras] to develop the pre-salt development speed was limited to the speed that it could print. When we allow other companies to do so, we multiply this speed, "said Guimarães.

The arrival capabilities with the opening of the market, however, will not be immediate and some operations in the pre-salt may still be for the next decade, pondered the IBP. "Investment in oil is not short-term, we are talking about four, five years. This means that we will see suppliers, jobs and investments coming gradually, "said Guimarães.

Local Content

The IBP executive secretary also said that the local content will be preserved by the new operators that arise, for there is already such a legal requirement and to be more efficient and cheaper. He argued, however, that the government rate in the future, a review of this model. "The way it is today, even Petrobras has suffered from the difficulties to meet those obligations, the rules need to be more realistic," he argued.

Despite the fluctuation of petroleum prices in the international market in recent years between $ 30 and $ 100, the expectation is that the price to stabilize between $ 40 and $ 60, still attractive value for the industry, said Guimarães . For IBP, it is still necessary to make the oil activity in Brazil more attractive from the point of view of the regulatory framework.

Rio Oil & Gas

With the theme "Pathways to a competitive oil industry," Rio Oil & Gas expects to gather about 3,000 participants and 140 speakers over four days at the end of this month. The meeting, held every two years, once again attracting the attention of the market - and exhibitors - after the Brazilian government approved the easing in the pre-salt layer.

Among the fair's main topics are the 14th Bidding Round of Oil and Gas and the regulation of rules of unitization (when reservations advance geographic block limits). "We have a new government and new guidelines to try to return to competitiveness the sector lost ", said the president of the Rio Oil & Gas Exhibition Committee, João Carlos de Luca. "Perhaps this [show] is a drain of a series of good news for the industry," bet.