Dilma denounces the biggest attack on national sovereignty.

By approving Representative Aleluia's bill, Congress is authorizing the plundering of our country, whose interests it should represent above all else. This maneuver, orchestrated by the protagonists of the 2016 coup that placed a corrupt group in power, is being approved hastily and without debate. Parliamentarians didn't even have time to review the original text before voting to hand over invaluable pre-salt areas to large multinational oil companies.

In the texts below, the Director of Sindipetro-RJ, Ana Patrícia Laier, and former federal deputy Haroldo Lima denounce the collusion against national interests.

How can a Congress threaten to plunder its own country?

Ana Patrícia Laier*

The Onerous Transfer Agreement was the method found by the government in 2009/2010 to capitalize Petrobras for the exploration and development of the pre-salt layer, which is the largest oil province discovered in over 35 years. Before this, the North Sea had its first commercial discovery with Ekofisk in 1969, and the Santos pre-salt layer was discovered in 2006 with Parati (1-RJS-617D) and commercially with Tupi (1-RJS-628A), the discoverer of Lula. Through the Onerous Transfer Law, the National Congress authorized the Union to sell to Petrobras the right to produce up to 5 billion barrels of oil from accumulations that the company might discover in seven large areas, six definitive and non-transferable and one contingent, the Peroba area, recently auctioned.

The law was enacted and the contract was signed between Petrobras and the Federal Government. Two certification companies were hired to calculate the volumes, one by Petrobras and the other by the ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels). Volumes were allocated in the six definitive areas: Franco (Búzios); South of Tupi (South of Lula); Florim (Itapu); Northeast of Tupi (Sépia); South of Guará (South of Sapinhoá) and Surroundings of Iara (North and South of Berbigão; North and South of Sururu, Atapu). The project had been developed by a working group formed by technicians from the ANP and Petrobras in 2009. Everything was done within the strictest legality and aimed at optimizing wealth for all of Brazilian society.

Something similar had been done by the Norwegian government before the partial privatization of Statoil with the sale of shares on the stock exchange in 2001. The Norwegian government sold part of its portfolio of stakes in oil and gas production fields to its state-owned oil and gas company. For the right to produce 5 billion barrels of oil, Petrobras paid the Brazilian government US$42 billion (almost 75 billion reais). The government increased its stake in the state-owned company by reinvesting this money back into it. The stock market offering was a success.

Petrobras then began its exploratory campaign in these areas. It acquired 3D seismic surveys; drilled exploratory wells and confirmed the presence of accumulations of excellent quality oil (API gravity within the intermediate range) in excellent quality reservoirs in the pre-salt layer, a play that had already been proven at this point in the events. Lula began its definitive production in 2010.

As stipulated in the Transfer of Rights Agreement, Petrobras declared commercial viability as it finalized the delimitation/evaluation phase of these accumulations and prepared the development plan to be submitted to the ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels). Búzios and Sul de Lula were the first to have their commercial viability declared in December 2013. Itapu, Sul de Sapinhoá and Sépia followed in September 2014. And finally, in December 2014, the Norte and Sul de Berbigão, Norte and Sul de Sururu and Atapu fields had their commercial viability declared.

During the exploration and evaluation phase of the areas, Petrobras verified that there was much more oil and gas in them than had been acquired through the Transfer of Rights Agreement. Furthermore, following a development model that would optimize wealth generation for our society, the direct contracting of Petrobras to produce the surplus from the Transfer of Rights Agreement under a production-sharing regime was approved. This occurred at the meeting of the National Council for Energy Policy held on June 24, 2014, and chaired by Dilma Rousseff.

In 2014, the surplus was estimated to be between 9,8 and 15,2 billion barrels. This model will generate approximately R$ 650 billion for society, of which about R$ 500 billion will be allocated to education. Therefore, the recoverable volume of oil at stake is at least 20 billion barrels that Petrobras already had the right to produce.

How can a congress threaten to plunder its own country?! React, Brazilian!

*Ana Patrícia Laier is a Director of Sindipetro-RJ, a member of the AEPET board, a geologist graduated from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), holds a Master's degree in Reservoir Geology from the Delft University of Technology (TUDELFT) in the Netherlands, and is a geologist at Petrobras with 18 years of experience.

The Chamber cannot grant the "onerous transfer" of Petrobras.

Haroldo Lima*

The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies is grappling with a crucial vote: one that authorizes Petrobras to transfer highly fertile areas—areas it received from the Brazilian government under exceptionally advantageous conditions simply because it is a Brazilian state-owned company—to "third parties."

On this subject I want to give my testimony, especially to my former parliamentary colleagues, with whom I worked for 20 years in the past.

I was the Director General of the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels during the period of the pre-salt discovery. I participated in the eight-member Ministerial Commission that, through almost two years of intense work, drafted four preliminary bills related to the pre-salt and submitted them to Congress. These bills, subjected to extensive, lengthy and in-depth debate with deputies and senators, were improved and transformed into three laws approved in both Houses of Congress: Law 12.351/2010, which creates and regulates the sharing of production and the Social Fund; the Law 12.304/2010 which creates the 100% state-owned company, Pré-Sal Petróleo SA, PPSA, to manage the pre-salt reserves; and the Law 12.276/2010, which grants Petrobras a huge quantity of oil, 5 billion barrels, under exceptionally advantageous and unique conditions, so that it could raise capital, which is called the Onerous Transfer Law.

With these laws approved, the next step was to draft the Onerous Transfer Agreement, through the coordinated efforts of the Federal Government, via the Ministries of Mines and Energy and Finance; Petrobras; and the ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels).

The resulting contract was a detailed fifty-five-page document, which expands to eighty pages with the attached tables and charts.

This contract was then signed by representatives of the Government, the Ministers of Mines and Energy and the Minister of Finance; by representatives of Petrobras, its President and two Directors; and by the ANP, represented by myself.

I am therefore one of the authors and signatories of the 80-page Onerous Transfer Agreement, which they now want revoked, under "urgent procedures," in accordance with the corresponding law.

Those plotting this maneuver disrespect their colleagues, wishing that they would revoke a Law and a Contract without even knowing them, because, given the scope of the Contract, there was not enough time to handle it, and, as far as I am informed, it was not even distributed.

I was a congressman for twenty years, I was a member of the Constituent Assembly, and I am aware of how upset I was when it was expected that congressmen and senators would vote without full awareness of what they were doing, without having detailed information about what they were potentially revoking, and above all, without knowing the ulterior motives that were probably behind the intended vote.

Therefore, I wish to point out, for the information of the honorable members of parliament, my former colleagues, some aspects of the issue that they are called upon to vote on:

1. With the discovery of the pre-salt layer in 2006/7, the aforementioned eight-member Ministerial Commission considered it opportune to locate, in the vast newly discovered province, two blocks capable of having their oil certified by international certification bodies. The ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels) located two points in areas belonging to the Union and subsequently contracted Petrobras to drill them. Thus, Franco and Libra were discovered.

2. It was then decided, with the support of Congress, that five billion barrels of oil from Franco (now the Búzios field) would be ceded to Petrobras under special, unique, and highly advantageous conditions. Petrobras would sell shares on the market and thus capitalize, paying the Union for the oil in shares. Petrobras would not disburse anything; on the contrary, it would have resources to invest further in the pre-salt layer. This happened, and Petrobras raised approximately R$120 billion (US$70 billion), the largest amount ever raised in the world in an operation of this nature. And it capitalized by more than R$70 billion.

3. With the problem of helping Petrobras to raise capital resolved, the government decided, with the support of Congress, that the other field, Libra, of similar dimensions to Franco, should be auctioned off transparently to reinforce the Union's coffers, which was done, collecting a Signature Bonus of R$15 billion in a production-sharing contract beneficial to the Union.

4. To now allow Petrobras to relinquish 70% of the oil fields under the transfer of rights agreement is tantamount to revoking the Law and the Contract of the Transfer of Rights Agreement, because they would be fundamentally altered, as they were created exclusively to benefit Petrobras simply because it is a company in which the State holds almost 50% of the share capital and the majority of the voting rights.

5. This attempt to alter the Law and the Onerous Assignment Contract involves an extremely dangerous procedure, highly detrimental to national interests, and which could lead to legal action before the Attorney General's Office for undue favoritism towards "third parties," thus defrauding the Union.

That's because, in the Transfer of Rights Agreement, the royalties were set at 10%, not 15% as in the rest of the pre-salt area.

That the Special Participations, which in large oil fields are greater than the royalties, will not be charged. That the Signature Bonus, which in a similar block, Libra, was R$15 billion, did not exist in the onerous transfer agreement in Franco (now Búzios), to benefit Petrobras. That the bidding process that exists for the rest of the area did not take place for the onerous transfer agreement, and Petrobras was chosen to receive it.

Transferring all these exceptional advantages specifically intended for Petrobras to a "third party" is an expropriation of the Brazilian people.

6. The bill that is intended to be voted on hastily mentions transferring this area to "third parties." But who are these "third parties"? Where do they come from? What role are these "third parties" playing in rushing through this disgraceful matter?

7. I say this as someone who directed the ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels) for almost eight years, that there is not a single Brazilian company capable of entering the areas of the onerous transfer agreement, due to an absolute lack of resources. There is only one type of "third party" in sight: the foreign company. In reality, what they want is to force Congress to vote, blindly and hastily, on benefits that only multinational oil companies will be able to enjoy.

8. For all these reasons, the Law on Onerous Assignment, in paragraph 6 of article 1, states that, "The assignment referred to in the heading is non-transferable," that is, the area of ​​the onerous assignment cannot be transferred to anyone. This is what is in the Law that is intended to be summarily revoked. So, is it enough to change the balance of power among deputies and senators for this care that deputies and senators have had in the past to be abandoned?

9. Finally, a warning. No major oil company would relinquish a large oil field, about to begin production, and in which it is the operator, if it intends to remain a major player. Only a company that intends to privatize itself would give up assets of this type. This is unacceptable.

10. Blocking the handover of areas under the Onerous Transfer Agreement to multinational corporations is a duty that parliamentarians cannot refuse.

Haroldo Lima is the former director-general of the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) and a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB).