Porto do Açu Operações signed a Cooperation Agreement with the Port of Houston in the first day of Rio Oil & Gas 2018. The partnership will pave the way for commercial sinergy between the largest port-industrial-energy complex in Latin America and the leading U.S. port in terms of imports and export tonnage.
Left to right: Kevin Lowder - Senior Vice-President of EIG Group, José Magela – CEO of Prumo Logística,Tadeu Fraga – CEO of Porto do Açu Operações, John Cuttino - Port of Houston’s representative in Brazil, Marcio Felix - Acting Minister of Mines and Energy, Décio Oddone - Director-General of ANP, Camille Richardson - Sr. Commercial Officer U.S. Consulate-General in Brazil, Jorge Camargo - Chairman of Rio Oil & Gas, Tessa Major – Commercial Director of Porto do Açu Operações
According to the Chief Executive Officer of Porto do Açu Operações, Tadeu Fraga, the Cooperation Agreement seeks to encourage the exchange of expertise and best practices between the ports. “Açu and Houston have similar profiles and can take advantage of their partner´s network to promote business between the U.S. and Brazilian markets. This exchange will increase exposure for the Port of Açu and produce new opportunities and new trade flows, especially for operations involving containers, a strong segment for our new partner. Another important point is the volume handled by Port of Houston associated with the O&G sector, which is also a vocation of the Açu Complex,” said the CEO.
“As the oil and gas industry is one of the main drivers of trade relations between the Port of Houston and Brazil, the partnership with the Port of Açu will benefit both ports, given that Açu is a reference and has natural vocation to serve the O&G industry. The initial focus will be on commercial opportunities related to cargo imports and exports in bulk or containers, also serving the offshore O&G industry,” added John Moseley, Chief Commercial Officer of the Port of Houston Authority.
In addition to the partnership between the two ports, the deal also creates new opportunities with the Port of Antwerp, a shareholder of Porto do Açu Operações along with Prumo Group. “This new partnership will create a commercial and logistic transatlantic triangle to be explored by the 3 ports, as the Port of Antwerp also has a successful cooperation agreement with the Port of Houston since 2014. We expect new businesses to be generated thanks to this synergy starting in 2019,” said Fraga.
The agreement was signed in the Port of Açu’s booth at Rio Oil & Gas in a ceremony attended by the acting Minister of Mines and Energy Marcio Felix. “I congratulate the Port of Açu for its way of pursuing and identifying strategic partners such as the Port of Antwerp and the Port of Houston. It shows their quality, thoughtfulness, commitment and vision in building something different for the country, something that Brazil needs. The government has worked hard in the past two years to reestablish this industry. We do know that Brazil has market, wealth and qualified personnel, and the Açu Complex is one such example, anchoring the development that we need,” he said.
The Director-General of the National Petroleum Agency (ANP), Décio Oddone, also attended the event and emphasized the Port of Açu’s strategic location. “The unlocking of the oil and gas industry in Brazil must take place along with infrastructure investments. And the Port of Açu is in a unique position to benefit from new planned investments and from the transformation that will take place in this industry. In addition to new operators and players in the industry, we will witness a new way to operate. We will no longer work without integration — as when Petrobras was the only operator in the Campos Basin — and will work in integration when it comes to services. Companies will increasingly seek solutions rather than contracts,” he added.
José Magela Bernardes, Chief Executive Officer of Grupo Prumo, closed the event and mentioned the importance of partnerships as the sector rebounds. “Among our partners, collaboration has been such an important word, in Grupo Prumo as well as in all businesses developed in the Port of Açu. We have been doing that very humbly, as we brought to our businesses partners who know what they are doing, and we learn from them. These partnerships add value to us and to the population. We will continue to invest in the transformation of the O&G industry,” he said.
The signature of the Cooperation Agreement was also attended by John Cuttino (the Port of Houston’s representative in Brazil), Jorge Camargo (Chairman of Rio Oil & Gas), Camille Richardson (Sr. Commercial Officer U.S. Consulate-General in Brazil), and Jean-Paul Charlier (Consul-General of Belgium in Rio de Janeiro).
