Government expects to raise R$1 trillion in 30 years with exploration of four pre-salt blocks. According to Minister Bento Albuquerque, of Mines and Energy, the proposal is to share up to 70% with states
The government calculates that it will be possible to collect R$ 1 trillion over the next 30 years with the exploration of four pre-salt oil blocks that are part of the mega auction in October. The resources, which will come from the collection of royalties (compensation paid by companies that explore oil) and taxes, will irrigate the coffers of the Union, states and municipalities. “It's R$ 1 trillion in 30 years of collection at the three levels. That's money and it has a multiplier effect,” said Albuquerque.
Most of the money raised with the pre-salt, which also includes the part that belongs to the Union from the oil explored, goes to the federal government. However, the Minister of Economy Paulo Guedes intends to make a more generous distribution of values. The promise is to share up to 70% of the value obtained. The economic team already knows that, in order to share oil resources with states and municipalities, it will be necessary to change the Constitution by creating a new exception to the spending cap rule, which limits federal spending.
First, the signing bonus for the auction will enter the government's treasury, which will reach R$ 106 billion, paid by the companies that win the bid. This money will also be shared with regional governments. Then comes the exploration of the blocks. That's when royalty money starts pouring into government coffers. The government also keeps a portion of the oil produced and then sells it.
Albuquerque recalled that the operation will be possible thanks to an understanding signed between the Union and Petrobras to review the so-called transfer of rights contract — an agreement by which the state-owned company obtained the right to explore 5 billion barrels of pre-salt oil. The terms of the contract were revised after a long negotiation, and Petrobras won the right to be reimbursed by the Union in R$ 33,6 billion.
Opening the way for the government to sell the excess oil that exists in these fields. The auction is scheduled for October 28, in Rio.
– Each year that we fail to hold the auction, according to very conservative data, US$ 6 billion is lost in investments, in platforms, in cost of opportunities – said the minister, recalling that the oil from the transfer of rights is already ready to be explored.
According to Albuquerque, other countries also have very high reserves that will enter the world market in the coming years, which could compete with Brazilian fields.
Albuquerque also defended the possibility of holding the auction and signing the agreement with Petrobras without congressional approval. The mayor, Rodrigo Maia (DEM-RJ), has insisted that the final word on the agreement rests with the parliamentarians. But the minister has a different view.
He explained that the sharing of resources with the pre-salt layer may even be subject to analysis by Congress, but not the review of the transfer of rights. – There is a discussion, which comes from the past, which is about where the money goes. This is a tax issue (which does not necessarily) have to do with the onerous transfer auction – he added.
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