The Father Of Pre-Salt Talks About Petrobras: “It Is Provoking The People”

In Interview with Luis Nassif, the Father of Pre-salt and Former Director of Petrobras Guilherme Estrella Discusses the Central Role of the Brazilian State-Owned Company in Industry and Innovation

When asked about the possible risks to Brazil’s socioeconomic development in areas where Petrobras is divesting and making way for private operators, the father of pre-salt was quite succinct with his answers.

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Guilherme Estrella states that from the moment the Brazilian state-owned company begins to prioritize the financial market over its own country it provokes the people.

For the father of pre-salt, Petrobras should be linked and entirely committed to the Brazilian citizen. After its new management, the company ended up reducing its size; according to Guilherme, Brazil loses in all fields in which it operates: social, cultural, in science, in the job and income generation sector, in promoting local economies and small service companies that have always worked alongside Petrobras.

Father of Pre-salt and His Journey at Petrobras

When he took over the Exploration and Production Directorate in 2003, under Lula’s government, he interpreted that the previous government reserved a relatively smaller space for Petrobras in the Brazilian oil sector. And Lula’s government moved exactly in the opposite direction, considering our vast experience in exploration and production in sedimentary basins, which was confirmed right in the first bidding of that year when he heavily entered into the acquisition of blocks.

Until then, the team of the father of pre-salt was reducing the acquisition of exploratory blocks. His policy was to expand, to recover the importance of Petrobras in the oil production and exploration sector, and, with the work of geologists, geophysicists, and engineers, a first discovery was identified that was not so large, but later, through correlation with other areas, it was realized that it consisted of a petroleum province of absolutely significant importance for Brazil.

Thus, he brought to President Lula and then-Minister Dilma Rousseff that this was of absolutely strategic importance for Brazil, which should have new rules regarding the concession regime. With the new legislation, it ensured that the main beneficiary of the pre-salt would be the Brazilian people.

The General Context of the Oil Market for the Former Petrobras Director

In summary, in his general vision and assessment, Guilherme Estrella, who is popularly known as the father of pre-salt, reports that the integration of Petrobras with the private initiative is part of the company’s history.

The participation of partners in the company’s ventures, contributing new investments, is also fundamental. What he sees as a mistake is thinking that Petrobras’ presence is limited to that of a company producing for profit. It is not. “Petrobras is more than that, and we all know it,” claims Guilherme. Petrobras is a company that interacts with the development of society in various ways.