Meeting promoted by Sinduscon-RN, in partnership with Fiern, points out ways to do business with Petrobras

Businesspeople from different segments, including construction, had the chance, this Wednesday (8), to learn about Petrobras’ investment plans and the business opportunities that may arise in this production chain. The possibilities were presented by the oil company at an event promoted by the Civil Construction Industry Union (Sinduscon-RN), in partnership with the Federation of Industries of Rio Grande do Norte (Fiern) and the unions of the Metallurgical, Mechanical and Electrical Material Industries of Rio Grande do Norte. Rio Grande do Norte (Simetal-RN), and the Ceramics Industry (Sindicer-RN).

During the “Meeting with suppliers, building business with Petrobras”, the state-owned company presented to the unions the areas in which it is interested in establishing partnerships with companies, including refinery expansion and maintenance projects, construction of oil and gas platforms, infrastructure logistics and others.

According to the president of Sinduscon-RN, Sérgio Azevedo, Petrobras’ investment can create a favorable environment for construction companies to generate jobs and distribute income in the State. Furthermore, he suggests that this influx of investment will also lead to an increase in tax collection for RN, which could have a significant impact on the economic and social development of the State.

“This type of meeting, with Petrobras, is the first of them, but we want to hold another with the PVP company, for example, with the aim of promoting and boosting the civil construction sector, which has already had a share in Rio Grande’s GDP of the North, very significant, and today it has a marginal share. It is a sector that has already employed 48 thousand people, is registered with CAGED, and today employs just over 28 thousand. So, what we want is, by making these moves, to warm up the construction sector so that it can regain its leading role”, he highlighted.

The Northeast is the second region that has the most service provision contracts with Petrobras. In total, there are 17,729 partner companies of the oil company in the NE, behind only the Southeast region, which concentrates the majority of contracts (72,730). Across the country, there are 105.4 thousand contracted service providers.

According to him, “this is Petrobras’ opportunity to present what it wants to invest in and what it will build. It will find in this environment a fertile field for companies that want to qualify and qualify to be service providers and, let’s put it this way, surf this wave of investment, between 2024 and 2027”, emphasized Sérgio Azevedo.

In addition to the needs of the construction industry, the demands for services and products are wide-ranging, covering areas such as food, accommodation, transportation, security, personal protective equipment (PPE), uniforms, specialized clothing, manufacturing and maintenance of metal structures, preparation of engineering projects, equipment rental, installation of temporary facilities, quality control, repairs, calibration, distribution of daily consumable materials and technological solutions.

Importance of regionalization
The president of Sinduscon highlights the importance of regionalizing investments and opening up opportunities for local companies. “This is an initiative so that companies can train themselves, be able to provide services to Petrobras and, with the absence of State investment, seek other sources. And it is very important for Petrobras to promote the regional economy, as it is a major investor, a major contractor”, states Sérgio Azevedo.

He also highlights that two good things happen at the meeting: “one is the union between unions, which have common interests, and the other is a company the size of Petrobras wanting to show the unions its investment plan; and present the prerequisites for companies to become service providers for Petrobras. How to prepare not only regarding qualifications to provide services, but also regarding financial qualifications and quality certifications. This is a very important event in my opinion.”
According to the president of Sinduscon Mossoró, Pedro Augusto da Escóssia Chaves, Rio Grande do Norte has the potential to stand out as a reference in the Northeast in relation to the generation of qualified labor, especially to meet the demands of services for Petrobras .

“I believe that very structured work needs to be done with the State government. I think what holds many companies back is still the State government, its legislation, its way of conducting. But, we cannot lose hope, this is the role of the Industry Federation, to defend the companies that operate here in the State, to show the State government that there has to be this flexibility so that we can, really, in the future soon, there will be more activity here in our state”, he explained.

According to the president of the Union of Metallurgical, Mechanical and Electrical Material Industries of the State of Rio Grande do Norte (Simetal), Francisco Vilmar Pereira, between 2014 and 2015, there was a divestment from Petrobras, which negatively affected the state. However, with the entry of private investors, a new demand for services emerged, resulting in a shortage of qualified labor due to the migration of professionals to sectors such as wind and solar energy. This has led to an urgent need for training programs, such as those provided by the S system, to meet the needs of the sector.

“Petrobras resuming this investment, with this new basin that was discovered offshore, as well as some stations that still remained onshore, this makes us, in the metal-mechanical sector and in the industry in general, look at it with good eyes”, he pointed out.

The president of Sinduscon highlights the importance of regionalization of investments, of opportunities for local companies, of training local companies, of presenting opportunities, and also talking about Sinduscon, which opened this space, this agenda, for affiliated companies, in line with to provide a service, so that companies can train themselves, be able to provide services to Petrobras and, with the absence of State investment, seek other sources of power, companies can provide services.