A importância de uma frota própia de transporte de petróleo para o Brasil sob os aspectos econômicos e estratégicos

Abstract

Brazil has a continental shelf full of natural resources, especially petroleum. From the bottom of the sea, roughly 2 million barrels of oil are extracted daily. Transportation of all this amount of hydrocarbon requires a huge fleet of ships. However, the national oil transport fleet represents only 16% of all the necessary conveyance to supply the country?s demand for energy. In 2006 Petrobras has paid 1.2 billion dollars in ship freighting ? 800 millions in favor of foreign shipowners. On the opposite side of Brazil?s increasing production of crude oil, plus the development of the ethanol, meaning that more products will be moved, the oil tankers home fleet has been reduced in transport capacity, either because of disposal of some of its vessels, based on ship age, or for not conforming to the new safety and environment international rules. Brazil?s impressive chain of exploitation and production of oil has a weak link, which is located in the transport segment, allowing Brazil to be at will of foreign shipowners, provoking the evasion of government funds, and exposing the country to oil supply vulnerability either in the event of a conflict or a natural disaster in other regions. The present monograph has the objective of analyzing the current situation of Brazil?s oil tankers fleet, emphasizing its importance to the country, mainly based on economic and strategic aspects, and also to suggest actions that could contribute to the viability of its development