Oil exploration in SP to change the face of the North Coast
O Estado de S. Paulo 04/26/2009
The oil exploration in Santos Basin will change the face of the North Coast of São Paulo. With the inauguration, this Friday, of the long-term test of the Tupi Field, Petrobrás takes the initial step towards the development of what may become the largest oil producing basin of the Country, exceeding the Campos Basin. In view of that, the Government of the State already foresees a series of investments in order to incorporate part of the benefits created by the oil industry.
The perspective is that at least one shipyard and two support bases for the exploration of oil offshore be built in some port between the estuary of Santos and Ubatuba. Four roads will be enlarged to improve the road infrastructure which is already saturated by the touristic demand. In Caraguatatuba, Petrobras will conclude the works of the gas treatment unit that will receive the production from Mexilhão - the first large-size field to go into in definitive operation in the basin - by 2010. All the projects are included in a report to be concluded in July by the Oil and Natural Gas Special Commission of the State of São Paulo (Cespeg). The purpose of the work is to prepare the coast of the State to receive oil companies and service providers for the exploration and production activities in the Santos Basin, which should get to 2020 with a production above 2 million barrels per day - a volume greater than that currently produced in the Country. The exploration activity in Santos also attracts many private companies, such as the new companies Vale and OGX, besides large-size multinational companies. The committee is subdivided into nine groups that evaluate measures for the State to benefit from the oil activity. The first results should be ready in September, with the publication of the bidding rules for the concession of four roads that connect the most industrialized regions to the north coast: Rio-Santos, Mogi-Bertioga, Tamoios and Oswaldo Cruz. The package of the state Government includes tax benefits for the oil industry and the use of the just-created Nossa Caixa Desenvolvimento development bank to finance the setting up of plants. "Part of the resources receive by the fund will come from the royalties the State will receive", says Santos.