PreSalt.com

8 Sep 2009 - by PreSalt.com - Source: Petrobras News

In depositions made to the Petrobras CPI this Tuesday (09/08), representatives of Pini Serviços de Engenharia, the company that certified the regularity of the costs of the earthwork done for the Pernambuco Refinery (Abreu e Lima), denied there is evidence of overpricing in the project. After presenting information about the company, Institutional Relations director Mário Sérgio Pini said the parameters used by the Federal Court of Auditors (FCA) do not reflect the particularities of an unconventional project such as that of the Pernambuco Refinery.

According to Pini, the methodology the company used was pricing per modeling, which is the most appropriate for unconventional civil construction work similar to the refinery’s. “It is necessary to use modeling. You cannot do it based on percentages,” explained Pini. “The FCA’s methods are valid, but they cannot be conclusive for a project such as this one, which has rather unique characteristics. Adjustments need to be made.”

To the director, the reference and basic cost schedules (Sicro and Sinapi) are, as the name itself suggests, references, and cannot be used to define the job’s final costs. “Basic costs vary a lot in unconventional work. You cannot transport costs estimated for a road to a job of the size and complexity of a refinery,” he said.

The director stressed Pini was invited to estimate the price on account of its wide-ranging experience in the domestic civil construction market. “Pini has existed for 61 years and has a long tradition in providing several services in this sector,” he emphasized. According to the director, the company has the federal government, São Paulo state city halls, and private corporations among its customers.

Pini consultant, Luiz Raymundo Freire de Carvalho, provided details about the methodologies that are currently in use in civil construction that justify the approach used in the consultancy about the Pernambuco Refinery earthwork. The consultant explained the particularities that are unique to the project and stated they were determining factors in the study that was carried out regarding the work done for the refinery. Carvalho also emphasized that, from Pini’s viewpoint, there was no overpricing for the earthwork done for the Pernambuco Refinery.

So far as the statement made by senator Álvaro Dias during the Senate session is concerned, Petrobras reasserts there was no overbilling or overpricing in the Pernambuco refinery (Abreu e Lima) earthwork. Unlike what the senator said, cost reduction negotiations are habitual at the Company. As early as March 2008, before the FCA’s inspection, Petrobras started the cost reassessment and price renegotiation process with the consortium in charge of the earthwork, by means of the creation of a Negotiation Commission constituted to reassess the technical conditions and solutions.

Senator Álvaro Dias’ statement, that Petrobras had tried to obstruct or complicate inspections by any control agency, is also not true. Quite the contrary. The Company has always collaborated with these institutions and in the event of divergences, it seeks to clarify them, as it has done with the FCA. Petrobras provided more than 60 folders containing all of the requested documents. Documents that were not handed over contained information about bidding procedures that are still ongoing, such as pricing details. After they are wrapped-up, the information will be available to the FCA. The Company has already submitted upwards of 10,000 pages, between clarifications and documents.

During the deposition, Mário Sérgio Pini also said that “in the event Sicro/Sinapi information is unavailable, the legislation authorizes the FCA to use the PINI market prices.”

In the next session, scheduled for September 22, at 2 PM, the executive manager for Corporate Communications, Wilson Santarosa, and area managers will be heard regarding sponsorships.