São Paulo – A partnership between Petrobras and the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) has already qualified around 2,300 small companies, in 11 Brazilian states, to supply to large companies in the oil and gas productive chain.
The first agreement between the institutions was signed in 2004, and counted on investment of 12 million Brazilian reals (US$ 7 million). The second agreement, in turn, signed in 2008, received investment of 32 million reals (US$ 18.6 million) for qualification of new suppliers.
The national coordinator of the Oil and Gas portfolio at the National Sebrae, Eliane Borges, explained that Petrobras has opened tenders with less than three participants. Therefore, at the moment, the partnership aims at seeking companies that may participate in tenders to supply items that are less offered on the market. "The emphasis of the new agreement is to seek companies that may supply items that have little competition,” he explained.
According to the agreement, the Sebrae is responsible for seeking and qualifying companies. The time for qualification may vary from one year to a year and a half. “Depending on what product is offered, more or less may be required,” said Eliane.
She believes that small companies are qualified not only for direct sales to Petrobras, but also to large companies that are already suppliers to the state-owned oil company. “Small companies are going to sell even more to the companies that supply Petrobras than to Petrobras itself.”
Another focus of the project is on making these large companies provide the lists of products they may be interested in, as well as making their purchase processes and policies available in reports like those issued by the National Organization of the Petroleum Industry (Onip). “We need to make the competent companies more visible,” pointed out Eliane.
Aladio Antônio de Sousa, the Research and Development manager at the company, in Sergipe, says that the oil and gas productive chain is very complex and that the company has great interest in qualifying suppliers. “We want to develop new partners so that the chain may be quality,” he said. “Sometimes a product that nobody gives importance to may affect an entire process. Some months ago, Tupi well had to stop producing due to one screw,” he exemplified.
To bring small and large companies closer together, the agreement has already promoted 33 business roundtables. The estimate from 31 of these meetings is that the volume of business generated may reach 1.5 billion reals (US$ 874 million).
Petro Networks
To expand the competitiveness of the current and potential suppliers, Petro Networks was created. The networks include companies that receive support from institutions like the Sebrae and the National Service of Industrial Education (Senai), for example, for qualification of the oil and gas chain. According to Eliane, together, these companies can make their training and promotion cheaper.
Currently, there are 24 qualification projects focussing on four strategic areas: competitive intelligence, promotion of a cooperative culture in the productive chain, development of suppliers and innovation, as well as market access. These projects are located in the states of Amazonas, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul and Rio de Janeiro. According to Borges, small companies hope that these opportunities may be expanded due to discoveries in the pre-salt layer.
Sousa also pointed out the need for certification of companies that supply Petrobras in areas like quality, environment, safety and occupational health. "Today, Petrobras demands that suppliers be certified or work within these norms. Therefore, small companies that have broader vision are already moving on to certification.” In Sergipe alone, the agreement already reaches 16 companies that have been certified in at least one of the areas and four that have certificates in three areas.
Another target of the partnership is to promote internationalisation of companies. "Companies enter the project to supply the local, national and international markets,” said Sousa.
On working on a balance of the agreement, Sousa pointed out that the results were absolutely positive. “We have exceeded our expectations. The indices of targets that we have stipulated shows it was a success. Our target is for companies to expand their sales by 30% in three years, and some have grown by 200%".
Companies interested in participating in the project should get in contact with a Sebrae branch.
*Translated by Mark Ament
