Oil
and gas sector in Brazil to receive US$ 199 billion
Agência Brasil
RIO
Petroleumworld.com 09 13 06
The
oil and gas sector of Brazil should receive investment of US$ 199 billion
over the next five years, according to the president of the Brazilian
Institute of Oil and Gas (IPB), João Carlos de Luca. The head
of IPB spoke yesterday (11) during the opening ceremony of the 13th
edition of Rio Oil & Gas Expo and Conference, the greatest conference
in the sector in Latin America, which takes place in Rio de Janeiro.
According to Luca,
of the total invested, US$ 75 billion will come from Brazilian oil giant
Petrobras, and the rest will be invested by other private companies
in the sector. He pointed out, however, that for there to be growth
in the oil productive chain in the country, it is necessary for challenges,
like the lack of specialized labour and of equipment, which are global
difficulties, to be overcome. The meeting about oil is taking place
at Riocentro exhibition centre and will end on Wednesday (13).
Over the three days
of Rio Oil & Gas, 30,000 visitors and 800 exhibitors from 14 countries
are expected. Among the exhibitors are great companies in the sector,
like Petrobras and Shell, and small sector suppliers. During the exhibition,
business roundtables will be promoted between 200 small and large companies
in the business. The fair was opened by Mines and Energy minister Silas
Rondeau, and by Petrobras president José Sérgio Gabrieli.
Petrobras is investing
in exploration and production of gas and oil in Brazil and abroad. The
company is also starting to invest in export of excess produce, as this
year Brazil became self-sufficient in oil.
Yesterday Petrobras
announced a US$ 200 million contract to export 550,000 tonnes of fuel
oil to the state-owned energy company of Cyprus. The announcement was
made by the Supply director at Petrobras, Paulo Roberto Costa, during
the opening of Rio Oil & Gas Expo and Conference.
According to the
executive, the contract signed last Friday forecasts the supply of the
fuel for one year starting in October. "This is not the first long-term
contract, but it is important because a partnership was established
with a European country," he said. The main theme of the conference
in Rio de Janeiro is Brazilian self-sufficiency in oil and current opportunities
and challenges for the sector.
*Translated by Mark
Ament
Agência
Brasil 12 09 06
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