Fernando Coelho Filho, minister of MME, was in this Thursday (14/12) at Petrobras' Candeias-1 well in the Bahia Recôncavo, to honor the 76 years of the first steps of the national oil industry. Candeias was the first commercial field discovered in the country, which remains in activity, reaching a small production of 34 barrels / day, signaling the new directions of the Brazilian economy of that time.

In his symbolic visit, the minister was accompanied by MME Secretary of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels, Márcio Félix, and by Petrobrás managers, Nilo Azevedo (executive manager of Terra and Águas Rasas), Stênio Galvão (general manager of the Exploration and Production of Bahia), and Geraldo Correio (manager of the Fluids Processing Assets of the Exploration and Production Unit of Bahia).

In his appreciation for the opportunity to visit Candeias, Fernando Coelho highlighted that "one of the biggest deliveries we will have during these 1 year and 11 months ahead of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, will be the resumption of the oil and gas industry in Brazil : We have resumed our auction calendar that was extremely successful, "he said and recalled the government's commitment to the renewal of Repetro by the National Congress last night, 13. The minister stressed the interest of companies" who opted for return to invest in Brazil "and also" to see Petrobras investing, as we have seen in the last two auctions, very firmly. " "The population has no idea what's about to come from these auctions; the staff sees a lot of signatures there, $ 6 billion is a lot of money, but that, in fact, is just the tip of the iceberg that will come there from royalties, taxes, jobs and service generation. "

Fernando Coelho Filho has once again defended the exploration of new oil and gas exploration fronts in the country. "The Brazilian territory has a lot, a lot, a lot of opportunity" - he emphasized - "and we can not have the size it has and produce less than half that of other countries that, with all due respect, are much smaller than our". "I think we need to give a bigger boost in that direction; and that's why I'm here today too. It was important for me not to let go of the ministry without coming here. " According to the minister, the commitments made by his Ministry with the sector were fulfilled. He stressed that until April he will be able to hold the 15th Round and recalled that Petrobrás has already exercised the preemptive right of the fourth round of the Pre-Salt, scheduled for June 2018. "Let's move on to actually put Brazil on the industry route of the world's oil and gas, because we have everything to be there, "he concluded.