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Sale of Petrobras Platforms and Pandemic Emptying Businesses in Oil Towns Like Macaé and Campos dos Goytacazes
One of the main oil production fields is already experiencing a wave of decline that has been exacerbated by the arrival of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Petrobras has never sold off so many oil fields and platforms as it has in the last two years, and the effects of this are hitting cities like Macaé and Campos dos Goytacazes.
In this year of 2020, for the first time since the existence of the Campos Basin, production fell below 1 million barrels of oil per day.
Macaé and Campos dos Goytacazes Are the Most Affected Areas
The effect of this flood of unexpected events becomes visible in cities like Macaé and Campos dos Goytacazes, with real estate sales and rental signs spread all over. Entrepreneur Manoela Guedes states that she used to have more than 10 employees with formal contracts, but with the arrival of the Pandemic, she had to dismiss them all.
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“I served lunches and snacks in a small space that I opened in downtown Macaé in 2010. Five years later, the crisis started. Now I have to sell cakes from my home,” adds Manoela Guedes. The situation in Campos dos Goytacazes is even worse, as Petrobras had to empty an entire building to cut costs in 2019.
“If activities involving oil and gas decline, the workforce ends up looking for other places“, claims the president of the commercial association, Leonardo Abreu.
Effects of the Lava Jato Operation
UFRJ economics professor Iderley Colombini states that everything began during the Lava Jato operation, and they are now in continuous decline alongside the drop in oil prices and Petrobras’ divestment programs.
The economist further claims that at no point in Petrobras’ existence has it divested so many oil production areas as it has since 2019 and continues to do so currently in 2020.
In total, six oil fields have been sold entirely, and two more partially. In an interview, Petrobras denied having reduced its presence in the northern Fluminense region and stated that it “remains fully active” where it operates and intends to renew to include higher value-added activities in its portfolio.
“Our plan includes the installation of three new units in the Campos Basin, projects to further increase oil production, and to revitalize and reorganize the flow network,” highlighted Petrobras through its press office.
Macaé Challenges Article in São Paulo Newspaper
Readers from Macaé expressed outrage at the content of the article described by the magazine Pequenas Empresas Grandes Negócios, asserting that everything reported was false. By claiming that Petrobras has never sold off so many oil production fields before, readers highlight a significant untruth.
Macaé residents assert that the city is and will continue to be a center of opportunities and job generation. Francisco Navega, president of the Macaé Commercial and Industrial Association, also contested the article, asserting that even amid difficulties, Macaé remains one of the cities with the highest investment revenue.
“The report by Estadão was biased, only reporting the side of divestment. It says nothing about the substantial investments and wealth of Macaé, such as the Açu Port, the Thermoelectric Plants, the increased logistics operation at the Petrobras port, the UPGN of the Clima project, and the Macaé Port Terminal (Tepor),” and the journalist omitted both sides of the same coin from the report,” he said.
“We must promote leisure due to private airports, promote gastronomy, and along with that, the major works in Macaé, especially the new companies that are arriving to operate the mature wells that Petrobras is divesting from,” stated the president of Acim.
Source: Revista Pequenas Empresas Grandes Negócios
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