Rio, January 20, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Minister of Mines and Energy, Dilma Rousseff, promited yesterday (19) that the remaining appointments to the executive board of the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) will be made "as soon as possible." She was attending the official ceremony to install Deputy Haroldo Lima, from Bahia, as Technical Director of the Agency, which has two empty positions on its board.

Dilma praised the nomination of the Bahian deputy and expressed her satisfaction in being able to count on "someone with Haroldo Lima's political quality, technical quality, and ethical standards."

We shall have an ANP administration that will allow us more clarity in the development of natural gas and petroleum policy, especially with respect to reserves and production, and, obviously, this within a national administrative framework that also includes the National Energy Policy Council," the Minister said.

The Council is a Presidential advisory body that, together with the Ministry, defines guidelines and procedures in this area, she recalled. (DAS)