Abstract (Translated):
The objective of this study is to analyze the economic, political and strategic implications of the discovery of huge oil and gas reserves in the presalt provinces in 2006. For this purpose we present the main challenges that must be confronted to make sure that the presalt cycle will contribute to the countries development: the national sovereignty over the areas, far way from the cost; the interaction with international interest; the upgrading of the industrial capacity through the use of local content requirements, justified by the scale and duration of the enterprise; the price formation and the risk of crowing out of ethanol; and the risk of rentier mentality and excess of dollar inflows. During the Lula and Dilma administration specific industrial strategies and a new legal framework were introduced to respond to these challenges. These policies are drive by a neodevelopmental perspective. The new reality of the presalt also means a repositioning of Petrobras as one of the main players in the international energy world.
