Senators approve bill to relieve Petrobras of obligation to operate pre-salt oil

Brazil's Senate approved a bill Wednesday (Feb. 24) eliminating the requirement for Petrobras to have a 30% stake pre-salt oil operations. According to the draft, which is now pending before the Chamber of Deputies, the state-owned oil company will be free to choose whether to operate a field or waive its minimum 30% stake currently required by law.

“The existing law requires Petrobras to have a stake in something it may not be interested in,” said Senator Romero Jucá, the bill rapporteur.

The approved draft is an amended version of the original bill put forward by the opposition Senator José Serra, which proposed eliminating Petrobras's compulsory stake in pre-salt production without giving it preference on the fields. Under the new draft, the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE) will offer Petrobras the minimum 30% stake, and the oil company will decide whether or not to accept the undertaking.

The draft was extensively debated. Many senators, especially in the ruling Workers' Party (PT), said the bill gives Brazilian oil away to foreign companies at a bargain in a time of low barrel prices.

“So we're here discussing giving the pre-salt dirt cheap to oil multinationals, at $30 a barrel. Petrobras discovered it, made all the investment, now we leave it out for $30—there's no other way to put it, this is basically knocking down our future and pre-salt for a song,” complained Workers' Party Senator Lindbergh Farias.

But according to the bill sponsor, José Serra, the bill is meant to the contrary. He argues Petrobras has been facing a severe economic crisis and cannot afford to make the required investments to produce pre-salt oil. In his opinion, requiring the company to operate fields is detrimental to the company.

“This is a finance issue. Petrobras is financially broke,” Serra said. “We're not hurting any of Petrobras's rights, we're just removing some of the chains that bind it and put it in dire straits,” the senator said.

Translated by Mayra Borges

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