Petrobras did not request authorization from the ANP for refineries.

Brazil Agency - The Director-General of the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), Magda Chambriard, said today (11), in a public hearing at the Chamber of Deputies, that the regulatory agency never received a request from Petrobras to build the Premium I and Premium II refineries, in Maranhão and Ceará, respectively.

"Neither Premium I nor Premium II. Neither of them ever received a construction request. This request was never submitted to the ANP," the director emphasized. According to her, for any refinery to be built in Brazil, authorization must go through the ANP.

Magda also stated that, since no authorization was requested for the construction of these refineries, their absence does not alter the country's performance studies in the production, refining, and distribution of oil and fuels. When questioned by parliamentarians, Magda said that the lack of authorization from the ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels) would not impede the preliminary measures that had already been taken, such as demarcating the area, hiring personnel, and carrying out land leveling works.

The information surprised the parliamentarians of the external commission that deals with the case. "This discrepancy that is happening surprised us. This is very serious. The state of Ceará invested R$ 650 million in the work," said deputy Raimundo de Matos (PSDB-CE), rapporteur of the commission. Next Wednesday (18), the commission hopes to be able to count on the presence of representatives from Petrobras.

The two refineries are included in Petrobras' 2014-2018 Business and Management Plan. In January, however, the state-owned company abandoned plans to proceed with both projects. Petrobras' justifications for canceling the project include the absence of economic partners, lack of economic attractiveness, and increased capacity at refineries already in operation.

The estimated cost of each refinery was around R$ 20 billion. In Maranhão, for example, construction has been halted for three years. The state governor, Flávio Dino, is already trying to orchestrate the resumption of the project. He is even considering building a smaller refinery, which would reduce the initial cost by R$ 8 billion.