Roberto Castello Branco, said this Tuesday that Rio de Janeiro has a “unique opportunity” to recover its economy through the oil market.

In a hearing at the Chamber's Mines and Energy Commission, this Tuesday, the president of Petrobras, Roberto Castello Branco, said that Rio de Janeiro has a “unique opportunity” to recover its economy through the oil market. He stressed, however, that it is necessary to know how to use these resources.

“I think that the state of Rio de Janeiro has a unique opportunity to get out of the deep recession it has fallen into. I've told Governor Wilson Witzel that he's going to turn himself into an oil sheik. Rio de Janeiro will be the largest oil producer in the Americas, surpassed only by the United States and Canada. There will be jobs, not only for oil producers, but for suppliers, revenue generation, royalties, special participation. It will benefit you a lot. You have to use resources well, use them for the development of the economy of the state of Rio de Janeiro.” said Castello Branco.

He also stated that Petrobras has already done everything possible to reduce fuel prices, noting that the final value depends on external factors and that its objective is not to let the price be higher than the international average.

Castello Branco said that Petrobras has reduced the frequency of readjustments to fuels, which became daily during the management of former Petrobras president Pedro Parente.

He pointed out, however, that gasoline and diesel are international commodities and that this is “unfortunately beyond our control”.

"Our effort is to maintain parity with global prices", said Castello Branco, noting that, in the past, Petrobras even practiced prices above and below the international quotation.

Castello Branco was asked several times about the status of the Petrochemical Complex of Rio de Janeiro (Comperj), in Itaboraí, Rio de Janeiro, which had its works paralyzed amid allegations of corruption in Operation Lava-Jato.

The president of the state-owned company defined the project as a “disaster”, noting that the promise to generate thousands of jobs was not fulfilled.

According to the oil company, several options are being analyzed for investing in Comperj (Rio de Janeiro Petrochemical Complex), including a thermoelectric project. "However, such studies are still preliminary and there is no decision on the subject", points out the state-owned company.

Finally, Petrobras clarifies that it maintains the project to build a refinery with the CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) on site and that it remains with the project to create a natural gas processing unit.

Petrobras signed, this Tuesday, June 11, a Term of Cessation Commitment (TCC) with the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade). The state-owned company must sell eight oil refineries, including fuel transport assets, so that the administrative inquiry of the body that investigates abuse of position is suspended.