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Launched In 2010, The Project In Bacabeira Promised Thousands Of Jobs, But Was Abandoned In 2015 After Consuming Billions Without Ever Having The Most Basic License To Be Built
In The Municipality Of Bacabeira, 60 Kilometers From São Luís, A 2,000-Hectare Area, Land Cleared And Empty, Is The Monument To One Of The Biggest Unfulfilled Promises In Recent Brazilian History. On The Site, The Largest Refinery In Latin America Was Meant To Be. Today, There Are Only Ruins, The Silence Of A “Ghost Town” And The Loss Of A Billion-Dollar Project. The Story Of Petrobras’ Premium I Refinery Is A Classic Tale Of Ambition, Politics, And Waste.
The Project, Which Promised To Transform The Economy Of Maranhão, Was Officially Canceled In 2015. However, Its Downfall Was Not The Result Of An Unexpected Crisis. The Refinery Was Born With Fatal Flaws In Its Foundations, Driven By Political Interests And Lacking Economic Viability Or The Most Basic License To Exist, Long Before Operation Car Wash Became The Final Blow.
The Promise Of A New Maranhão, A Project Of 600 Thousand Barrels Per Day
The Cornerstone Of The Premium Refinery I Was Laid With Great Celebration On October 15, 2010, In The Presence Of Then President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The Announcement Was Grand: An Investment Of US$ 20 Billion To Build A Complex Capable Of Processing 600 Thousand Barrels Of Oil Per Day.
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The Promise Was To Create Over 25,000 Jobs And Inaugurate A New Cycle Of Development For One Of The Poorest States In The Country. The Undertaking Was Part Of A Strategic Plan By Petrobras To Ensure Brazil’s Self-Sufficiency In Fuels And Process The Newly Discovered Oil From The Pre-Salt. The Location In Maranhão, However, Was Widely Seen As A Decision Heavily Influenced By Politics, Associated With Names Such As Then Minister Of Mines And Energy, Edison Lobão, And Then Senate President, José Sarney.
The Fatal Flaw, A Project That Never Had License To Be Built
The Most Shocking Revelation About The Premium Refinery I Came During A Public Hearing In The Chamber Of Deputies On March 11, 2015. According To The Chamber Of Deputies, Magda Chambriard, Then Director-General Of The National Agency Of Petroleum (ANP), Stated That Petrobras Had Never Requested Permission From The ANP To Construct The Refinery.
This Was Not A Mere Formality. The ANP License Is An Indispensable Legal Requirement. The Fact That A Project Of This Magnitude, Included In The Growth Acceleration Program (PAC 2) And With Earthworks Already Underway, Had Progressed Without The Most Basic Document Indicates A Disturbing Governance Failure. The News Transformed The Project’s Perception: From A Failed Undertaking To A Phantom Project, Which Might Have Never Had The Real Intention Of Being Completed.
Economically Inviable, The Warning From The Tribunal De Contas Da União (TCU)
Long Before The Cancellation, The Inviability Of The Project Was Already Known. An Audit By The Tribunal De Contas Da União (TCU), Conducted Before The Fall In Oil Prices In 2014, Was Categorical: The Projects For Premium I And II Had 98% Probability Of Generating Financial Loss.
This Analysis Shows That Even Without The External Factors That Would Be Used As Justification For The Cancellation, The Premium Refinery Was Already Economically Condemned. The Decision To Move Forward, Even With The Warning From The Country’s Primary Oversight Body, Reinforces The Thesis That Political Interests Overrode Economic Logic And Fiscal Responsibility.
The Final Blow, How Operation Car Wash Accelerated The End
Operation Car Wash, Launched In March 2014, Was The Event That Exposed The Fragility And Sealed The Refinery’s Fate. The Investigation Uncovered A Systemic Corruption Scheme Within Petrobras, Which Strangled The Company’s Investment Capacity And Placed It Under Intense Scrutiny.
Fearing To Repeat The Exorbitant Costs Of The Abreu E Lima Refinery In Pernambuco, Another Pivot Of Operation Car Wash, Petrobras’ Management Halted All Major Investments. The Scandal Was Not The Root Cause Of The Premium Refinery Failure, But It Removed The Political And Financial Support For A Project That Was Already Stillborn, Making Its Cancellation Inevitable.
The Legacy Of Abandonment, Billion-Dollar Loss And The Disillusionment Of Bacabeira
In January 2015, The End Was Made Official. Petrobras Announced The Cancellation Of The Project, Resulting In A Accounting Write-Off Of R$ 2.1 Billion Only For Premium I. The TCU, In Turn, Calculated That The Total Loss To The Public Coffers From The Two Premium Projects Was R$ 3.8 Billion.
The Cruelest Impact, However, Was Felt By The Population Of Bacabeira. The Promise Of Jobs Attracted Thousands Of People, Creating An Economic Bubble That Burst Overnight. The Result Was Mass Unemployment, Bankruptcy Of Local Businesses, And The Disruption Of Rural Communities Displaced To Make Way For A Dream That Became A Wasteland. Today, The Empty Land Of The Premium I Refinery Is A Silent Symbol Of The Human And Financial Cost Of Unfulfilled Promises.
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