Rio, March 5, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The construction of an oil pipeline between the Campos Basin and São Paulo will create around 34 thousand direct and indirect jobs, 24 thousand of them in Rio de Janeiro. In the operating stage, of the 3,750 jobs that will be generated, 3,000 will be in the state. Another advantage of the project will be the increase in tax and royalty collection in the 19 municipalities along the route of the pipeline.

The state of Rio should receive R$ 136 million more in royalties, while another R$ 64 million should go to the municipalities involved in the project. The increase in tax revenues should be on the order of R$ 902 million, of which R$ 449 million correspond to the sales tax (ICMS) and R$ 89 million to the service tax (ISS), most of which will go to municipalities in the state of Rio.

Today, David Schmidt, general manager in charge of Pipeline Transport, Gas, and Energy in Petrobras's Engineering Department, presented the project to the members of the Regional Development and Tourism Council of the Rio de Janeiro Commercial Association. The project foresees investments on the order of R$ 4.65 billion and, according to Petrobras, will make it possible to increase petroleum production in the coastal region of the state from the current 1.250 million barrels to 1.7 million barrels in 2007. (DAS)