SP invests in the pre-salt layer and studies incentives to naval industry
DCI
Potential candidate for the 2010 presidential succession by the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party), the governor of São Paulo, José Serra, is already preparing himself to gather the profits from the oil exploration in the pre-salt layer in the Santos Basin, in the south coast of the State of São Paulo. In an exclusive, the Secretary of Development of the State of São Paulo and former governor, Geraldo Alckmin, advanced the main initiatives.
"The IPT [Institute of Technological Researches] is currently the main partner of Petrobras in this sector", emphasized Alckmin, making reference to the Governmental body that has a R$ 70 million (US$ 37.8 million) contract with the state oil company for research and rendering of services. In order to foster the project, Serra pumped up the investments in the IPT this year. The allocation made by the State in the entity leaped from R$ 20 million (US$ 10.8 million) in 2008 to R$ 57 million (US$ 30.8 million) in 2009. Alckmin emphasized that the institute studies the properties of the saline rock that needs to be drilled in order to get to the oil of the pre-salt layer, and the process of corrosion in the entire oil system, from the exploration to the equipment for the removal of oil and gas. And in October, the IPT inaugurates a new tank for tests of Petrobras' ships.
Santos, which tries to consolidate itself as the São Paulo capital of the pre-salt layer, will gain a technological park until the end of this month. The center will be located near the place where Petrobras is erecting its future headquarters and it will gather companies of the oil, gas, information technology and port sectors. The creation of the park, besides allowing the tax exemption for the companies that get installed in the place, opens the possibility of transfer of funds from the State to the promising oil sector of the region. Petrobras and the Cubatão Usiminas unit (former Cosipa) will be the anchor companies of the technological park that will gather entities of research and of specialized labor training. Next year, the Government of São Paulo will open one State Technical School (Etec) in Santos aimed exclusively at the area of oil and gas. The Government intends to strengthen the technical education in this area also in Caraguatatuba, on the north coast of São Paulo.
Alckmin also revealed the Government of São Paulo is studying measures of incentive for the naval industry, as it was done with the nautical industry in July. Serra reduced the tax rate of the State Sales and Services Tax (ICMS) from 25% to 7% for manufacturers of small ships. In a good mood, Alckmin celebrated the discovery of another valuable reserve in the interior of São Paulo: a clay reserve. "It is the pre-salt layer of the countryside", he said playfully. Technicians of the IPT have discovered, at the margins of the Paraná River, in the municipalities of Presidente Epitácio and Castilho, two clay reserves. "There is clay there to supply the industry of the region for 110 years", said the Secretary.