Source: Intelog - RS - POLICY - 07/10/2009

With the arrival of the Itinerant ANP project in the capital of Bahia, this Wednesday (7), the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels intensifies the action in the filling stations of the city. The agency's intention is to continue contributing to the drop in the fuel adulteration rate in Bahia and Brazil.

“Bahia has, for example, an ethanol adulteration rate of 2,5%, above the country's average (1,6%). In 2003, this national average reached 10%. This significant reduction is mainly due to the inspections carried out, ”said the director general of the ANP, Haroldo Lima, who congratulated the performance of the State Finance Secretariat (Sefaz) for combating tax evasion of ethanol.

In addition to the inspection actions, the ANP Itinerante project, which continues until Friday (9), at the Casa do Comércio, includes lectures and short courses aimed at the general public. Topics related to the agency's duties will be addressed and the fuel quality tests that may be required by the consumer at the service stations will be shown, as well as the measures to be taken in the case of proven tampering.

According to Governor Jaques Wagner, the initiative ensures greater interaction between society and the agency, which works to protect consumers. “The presence of regulatory agencies is recent in Brazil and society still does not know exactly what their role is. Therefore, I congratulate the ANP for taking the street to show the work it does ”, he said.

Pre-salt

The arrival of the Itinerant ANP, which has already passed through the cities of São Luís (MA), Recife (PE), Curitiba (PR) and Ribeirão Preto (SP), also raised discussions about the pre-salt layer. The governor again emphasized his defense of an equal distribution of royalties, inversely proportional to the Human Development Index (HDI) of the states, in order to reduce regional imbalances.

“I defend a thesis regardless of the state's convenience. I consider, regardless of where the pre-salt is located, that the layer discovered 70, 80, 100 kilometers from the coast does not have a negative impact on any state. I think it is cruel to other Brazilians that they are not entitled to receive part of this benefit ”, stated Wagner.

The director general of ANP shared the same opinion as the governor, defending the need for new dialogues about the distribution of royalties in the country. “In 2008, the ANP collected R $ 23 billion in royalties. This annual amount is being distributed to only 800 of the approximately 5.300 Brazilian municipalities. And of the 800, a group of 15 cities receives 85% of the value ”, he commented.

Lima also stressed the need for investment in the country's internal industrialization, based on the resources obtained from oil, so that Brazil does not face the so-called 'Dutch disease'. "The high availability of oil leads countries to export many barrels, receive a lot of hard currency and, consequently, import everything they need without capitalizing on domestic industries with these resources, as the Netherlands did," he explained.