Sistema FIRJAN participates at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), the world’s largest oil and gas fair, held on May 2-5 in Houston, USA. As a partner of oil and gas industries, the Federation works to improve the business environment and to attract investments to the State of Rio de Janeiro.

On May 4, the president of the Sistema FIRJAN, Mr. Eduardo Eugenio Gouvêa Vieira, will deliver a lecture at the Brazil-Texas Chamber of Commerce during the Bratecc Offshore 2016. The event will occur in parallel with OTC and it will count on presentations by the general director of the Brazilian National Agency of Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels (“ANP”), Mrs. Magda Chambriard, the president of the Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute (“IBP”), Mr. Jorge Camargo, and the president of Shell Brazil, Mr. André Araujo.

The low price of a barrel of oil, the current Brazilian financial crisis and political moment caused a decrease in industrial activity related to the oil and gas chain in the country. According to the Oil, Gas, and Maritime Manager of Sistema FIRJAN, Mrs. Karine Fragoso, the current moment of the Brazilian economy makes it fundamental to stimulate sectors not depending exclusively on the domestic market. “Oil is a product with huge exporting potential, in addition to carrying a gigantic productive chain, already installed in the country. These are national and foreign companies which chose Brazil for their operations and to install their research centers”, she affirms.

The Federation defends the adoption of urgent measures to recover the market in Rio de Janeiro, which concentrates approximately 80% of oil, 60% of gas reserves in Brazil, and the main suppliers of the market. This industry represents more than 30% of the State GDP.

One of the most important measures to reestablish the oil and gas industry is the termination of the obligation of sole operator for the pre-salt exploration. This will avoid the network of suppliers from working with a single client. It is also fundamental the industry may count on the regularity in the conduction of bidding auctions of exploration blocks and, therefore, a forecast of future demands.

Sistema FIRJAN participates at the OTC Houston since 2011, with the goal of narrowing the relationship with different companies of the offshore market, in addition to exchange technical knowledge with the main stakeholders of this sector.