Questões de Inglês para Concurso

Instruções: As questões de números 45 a 49 referem-se ao texto abaixo.

Radio Discipline

Communication between pilots and air traffic controllers is a process that is vital for the safe and efficient control of air traffic. Pilots must report their situation, intentions and requests to the controller in a clear and unambiguous way; and the controller must respond by issuing instructions that are equally clear and unambiguous. ...[B]... data link communication has reached an advanced stage of development, verbal communication is likely to remain the prime means of air-ground communication for many years.

t is of course important that radio equipment should be reliable and easy to use, and should be capable of conveying the spoken word clearly and without distortion over long distances. However, the process of communication is equally important and must be successful even in the most difficult conditions.

Of the many factors involved in the process of communication, phraseology is perhaps the most important, because it enables us to communicate quickly and effectively despite differences in language and reduces the opportunity for misunderstanding. Standardised phraseology reduces the risk that a message will be misunderstood and aids the readback/ hear-back process so that any error is quickly detected.

Radio communications (including party-line communications) contribute to building the pilot’s and the controller’s situational awareness. Flight crew and controllers may prevent misunderstandings by providing each other with timely information, for better anticipation.

Good radio discipline is essential to this process. Poor radio discipline is the most common cause of breakdown in the RTF communication process.

Aspects of Radio Discipline

1. Always listen out before transmitting − unless flight crew listen out before making a first call on a new frequency, they may interrupt an exchange between other traffic and ATC.

2. Always use standard phraseology.

3. Follow best practice on message format and content.

4. Ensure the use of a high standard of English language and pronounce as clearly as possible whilst speaking at a sensible pace.

5. Do not communicate with aircraft in the national language when there is a risk of loss of situational awareness for nonlocal pilots.

6. Follow best-practice with regard to speed and timeliness of communication.

7. Always apply the read-back/hear-back procedure. 8. Always request a repeat of a transmission when in any doubt as to the content or meaning of it.

(Adapted from http://www.skybrary.aero/ bookshelf/books/113.pdf)

Instruções: As questões de números 45 a 49 referem-se ao texto abaixo.

Radio Discipline

Communication between pilots and air traffic controllers is a process that is vital for the safe and efficient control of air traffic. Pilots must report their situation, intentions and requests to the controller in a clear and unambiguous way; and the controller must respond by issuing instructions that are equally clear and unambiguous. ...[B]... data link communication has reached an advanced stage of development, verbal communication is likely to remain the prime means of air-ground communication for many years.

t is of course important that radio equipment should be reliable and easy to use, and should be capable of conveying the spoken word clearly and without distortion over long distances. However, the process of communication is equally important and must be successful even in the most difficult conditions.

Of the many factors involved in the process of communication, phraseology is perhaps the most important, because it enables us to communicate quickly and effectively despite differences in language and reduces the opportunity for misunderstanding. Standardised phraseology reduces the risk that a message will be misunderstood and aids the readback/ hear-back process so that any error is quickly detected.

Radio communications (including party-line communications) contribute to building the pilot’s and the controller’s situational awareness. Flight crew and controllers may prevent misunderstandings by providing each other with timely information, for better anticipation.

Good radio discipline is essential to this process. Poor radio discipline is the most common cause of breakdown in the RTF communication process.

Aspects of Radio Discipline

1. Always listen out before transmitting − unless flight crew listen out before making a first call on a new frequency, they may interrupt an exchange between other traffic and ATC.

2. Always use standard phraseology.

3. Follow best practice on message format and content.

4. Ensure the use of a high standard of English language and pronounce as clearly as possible whilst speaking at a sensible pace.

5. Do not communicate with aircraft in the national language when there is a risk of loss of situational awareness for nonlocal pilots.

6. Follow best-practice with regard to speed and timeliness of communication.

7. Always apply the read-back/hear-back procedure. 8. Always request a repeat of a transmission when in any doubt as to the content or meaning of it.

(Adapted from http://www.skybrary.aero/ bookshelf/books/113.pdf)

Instruções: As questões de números 41 a 44 referem-se ao texto abaixo.

Industry gets the floor: Developing future Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management Systems (ATFCM)

One of the key SESAR projects in the area of Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management Systems (ATFCM) is Project 13.1.4, managed by Dominique Latgé, from Thales. He explained how the project will enable industry to contribute to future ATFCM systems through SESAR.

The project addresses the evolution of the Network Information Management System (NIMS) from a centralised regional system to a more collaborative and distributed system based on the Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs). One of its objectives is to help the transformation of the current regional CFMU system into marketable technical solutions for the subregional and local levels.

Project 13.1.4 also aims to define the collaborative decision making processes needed by this new organisation of the network. Driven by the new roles and responsibilities at the different levels (regional, sub-regional and local), the project ensures that each actor will find the right information at the right time to take the right decision.

Industry gets the floor

Project 13.1.4 is led by industry. Industry contributors will use the knowledge and experience they have developed in other parts of the world and with Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) at a local level in Europe.

Thales will use experience from work with South Africa’s air traffic & navigation system, where they helped to specify, develop and validate a sub-regional system for ...[A]... : CAMU (South Africa Central Airspace Management Unit). Indra, one of the other project partners, will use knowledge gained from work with Aena on local short term prediction tools and airspace management tools.

The project raises many questions, such as what products are needed inside Europe and at FAB level? What do we need to take into account for areas outside Europe?

The position of manufacturing industry in SESAR projects, in particular in system projects related to air traffic control (WP 10), airports (WP 12) and SWIM (WP 14), makes it a strong technical enabler for information sharing.

(Adaptado de Sesar Magazine, N. 6, Junho 2011, p. 6)

Instruções: As questões de números 41 a 44 referem-se ao texto abaixo.

Industry gets the floor: Developing future Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management Systems (ATFCM)

One of the key SESAR projects in the area of Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management Systems (ATFCM) is Project 13.1.4, managed by Dominique Latgé, from Thales. He explained how the project will enable industry to contribute to future ATFCM systems through SESAR.

The project addresses the evolution of the Network Information Management System (NIMS) from a centralised regional system to a more collaborative and distributed system based on the Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs). One of its objectives is to help the transformation of the current regional CFMU system into marketable technical solutions for the subregional and local levels.

Project 13.1.4 also aims to define the collaborative decision making processes needed by this new organisation of the network. Driven by the new roles and responsibilities at the different levels (regional, sub-regional and local), the project ensures that each actor will find the right information at the right time to take the right decision.

Industry gets the floor

Project 13.1.4 is led by industry. Industry contributors will use the knowledge and experience they have developed in other parts of the world and with Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) at a local level in Europe.

Thales will use experience from work with South Africa’s air traffic & navigation system, where they helped to specify, develop and validate a sub-regional system for ...[A]... : CAMU (South Africa Central Airspace Management Unit). Indra, one of the other project partners, will use knowledge gained from work with Aena on local short term prediction tools and airspace management tools.

The project raises many questions, such as what products are needed inside Europe and at FAB level? What do we need to take into account for areas outside Europe?

The position of manufacturing industry in SESAR projects, in particular in system projects related to air traffic control (WP 10), airports (WP 12) and SWIM (WP 14), makes it a strong technical enabler for information sharing.

(Adaptado de Sesar Magazine, N. 6, Junho 2011, p. 6)

Instruções: As questões de números 41 a 44 referem-se ao texto abaixo.

Industry gets the floor: Developing future Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management Systems (ATFCM)

One of the key SESAR projects in the area of Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management Systems (ATFCM) is Project 13.1.4, managed by Dominique Latgé, from Thales. He explained how the project will enable industry to contribute to future ATFCM systems through SESAR.

The project addresses the evolution of the Network Information Management System (NIMS) from a centralised regional system to a more collaborative and distributed system based on the Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs). One of its objectives is to help the transformation of the current regional CFMU system into marketable technical solutions for the subregional and local levels.

Project 13.1.4 also aims to define the collaborative decision making processes needed by this new organisation of the network. Driven by the new roles and responsibilities at the different levels (regional, sub-regional and local), the project ensures that each actor will find the right information at the right time to take the right decision.

Industry gets the floor

Project 13.1.4 is led by industry. Industry contributors will use the knowledge and experience they have developed in other parts of the world and with Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) at a local level in Europe.

Thales will use experience from work with South Africa’s air traffic & navigation system, where they helped to specify, develop and validate a sub-regional system for ...[A]... : CAMU (South Africa Central Airspace Management Unit). Indra, one of the other project partners, will use knowledge gained from work with Aena on local short term prediction tools and airspace management tools.

The project raises many questions, such as what products are needed inside Europe and at FAB level? What do we need to take into account for areas outside Europe?

The position of manufacturing industry in SESAR projects, in particular in system projects related to air traffic control (WP 10), airports (WP 12) and SWIM (WP 14), makes it a strong technical enabler for information sharing.

(Adaptado de Sesar Magazine, N. 6, Junho 2011, p. 6)

Text I

Brazil: Platform for growth

_{By Joe Leahy}

On the Cidade de Angra dos Reis oil platform,

surrounded by the deep blue South Atlantic, a

Petrobras engineer turns on a tap and watches black

liquid flow into a beaker.

5____It looks and smells like ordinary crude oil.

Nevertheless, for Brazil, this represents something

much more spectacular. Pumped by the national oil

company from “pre-salt” deposits – so-called because

they lie beneath 2,000m of salt – 300km off the coast

10 of Rio de Janeiro, it is some of the first commercial

oil to flow from the country’s giant new deepwater

discoveries.

Already estimated to contain 50bn barrels, and

with much of the area still to be fully explored, the

15 fields contain the world’s largest known offshore oil

deposits. In one step, Brazil could jump up the world

rankings of national oil reserves and production, from

15th to fifth. So great are the discoveries, and the

investment required to exploit them, that they have

20 the potential to transform the country – for good or for ill.

Having seen out booms and busts before,

Brazilians are hoping that this time “the country

of the future” will at last realise its full economic

potential. The hope is that the discoveries will provide

25 a nation already rich in renewable energy with an

embarrassment of resources with which to pursue the

goal of becoming a US of the south.

The danger for Brazil, if it fails to manage this

windfall wisely, is of falling victim to “Dutch disease”.

30 The economic malaise is named after the Netherlands

in the 1970s, where the manufacturing sector withered

after its currency strengthened on the back of a large

gas field discovery combined with rising energy prices.

Even worse, Brazil could suffer a more severe

35 form of the disease, the “oil curse”, whereby nations

rich in natural resources – Nigeria and Venezuela, for

example – grow addicted to the money that flows from

them.

Petrobras chief executive says neither the

40 company nor the country’s oil industry has so far

been big enough to become a government cash cow.

But with the new discoveries, which stretch across an

800km belt off the coast of south-eastern Brazil, this is

going to change. The oil industry could grow from about

45 10 per cent of GDP to up to 25 per cent in the coming

decades, analysts say. To curb any negative effects,

Brazil is trying to support domestic manufacturing

by increasing “local content” requirements in the oil

industry.

50____Without a “firm local content policy”, says

Petrobras CEO, Dutch disease and the oil curse will

take hold. However, “if we have a firm and successful

local content policy, no – because other sectors in the

economy are going to grow as fast as Petrobras”.

55___The other long-term dividend Brazil is seeking

from the discoveries is in research and development

(R&D). Extracting oil from beneath a layer of salt at

great depth, hundreds of kilometres from the coast, is

so challenging that Brazilian engineers see it as a new

60 frontier. If they can perfect this, they can lead the way

in other markets with similar geology, such as Africa.

For its part, Petrobras is spending $800m-$900m

a year over the next five years on R&D, and has

invested $700m in the expansion of its research

65 centre.

Ultimately, Brazil’s ability to avoid Dutch disease

will depend not just on how the money from the oil

is spent. The country is the world’s second biggest

exporter of iron ore. It is the largest exporter of beef.

70 It is also the biggest producer of sugar, coffee and

orange juice, and the second-largest producer of soya

beans.

Exports of these commodities are already driving

up the exchange rate before the new oil fields have

75 fully come on stream, making it harder for Brazilian

exporters of manufactured goods. Industrial production

has faltered in recent months, with manufacturers

blaming the trend on a flood of cheap Chinese-made

imports.

80____“Brazil has everything that China doesn’t and it’s

natural that, as China continues to grow, it’s just going

to be starved for those resources,” says Harvard’s

Prof Rogoff. “At some level Brazil doesn’t just want

to be exporting natural resources – it wants a more

85 diversified economy. There are going to be some

rising tensions over that.”

_{Adapted from Financial Times - March 15 2011 22:54. Available in:}

_{<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fa11320c-4f48-11e0-9038-00144feab49a,_i_email=y.html>}

_{Retrieved on: June 17, 2011.}

Text I

Brazil: Platform for growth

_{By Joe Leahy}

On the Cidade de Angra dos Reis oil platform,

surrounded by the deep blue South Atlantic, a

Petrobras engineer turns on a tap and watches black

liquid flow into a beaker.

5____It looks and smells like ordinary crude oil.

Nevertheless, for Brazil, this represents something

much more spectacular. Pumped by the national oil

company from “pre-salt” deposits – so-called because

they lie beneath 2,000m of salt – 300km off the coast

10 of Rio de Janeiro, it is some of the first commercial

oil to flow from the country’s giant new deepwater

discoveries.

Already estimated to contain 50bn barrels, and

with much of the area still to be fully explored, the

15 fields contain the world’s largest known offshore oil

deposits. In one step, Brazil could jump up the world

rankings of national oil reserves and production, from

15th to fifth. So great are the discoveries, and the

investment required to exploit them, that they have

20 the potential to transform the country – for good or for ill.

Having seen out booms and busts before,

Brazilians are hoping that this time “the country

of the future” will at last realise its full economic

potential. The hope is that the discoveries will provide

25 a nation already rich in renewable energy with an

embarrassment of resources with which to pursue the

goal of becoming a US of the south.

The danger for Brazil, if it fails to manage this

windfall wisely, is of falling victim to “Dutch disease”.

30 The economic malaise is named after the Netherlands

in the 1970s, where the manufacturing sector withered

after its currency strengthened on the back of a large

gas field discovery combined with rising energy prices.

Even worse, Brazil could suffer a more severe

35 form of the disease, the “oil curse”, whereby nations

rich in natural resources – Nigeria and Venezuela, for

example – grow addicted to the money that flows from

them.

Petrobras chief executive says neither the

40 company nor the country’s oil industry has so far

been big enough to become a government cash cow.

But with the new discoveries, which stretch across an

800km belt off the coast of south-eastern Brazil, this is

going to change. The oil industry could grow from about

45 10 per cent of GDP to up to 25 per cent in the coming

decades, analysts say. To curb any negative effects,

Brazil is trying to support domestic manufacturing

by increasing “local content” requirements in the oil

industry.

50____Without a “firm local content policy”, says

Petrobras CEO, Dutch disease and the oil curse will

take hold. However, “if we have a firm and successful

local content policy, no – because other sectors in the

economy are going to grow as fast as Petrobras”.

55___The other long-term dividend Brazil is seeking

from the discoveries is in research and development

(R&D). Extracting oil from beneath a layer of salt at

great depth, hundreds of kilometres from the coast, is

so challenging that Brazilian engineers see it as a new

60 frontier. If they can perfect this, they can lead the way

in other markets with similar geology, such as Africa.

For its part, Petrobras is spending $800m-$900m

a year over the next five years on R&D, and has

invested $700m in the expansion of its research

65 centre.

Ultimately, Brazil’s ability to avoid Dutch disease

will depend not just on how the money from the oil

is spent. The country is the world’s second biggest

exporter of iron ore. It is the largest exporter of beef.

70 It is also the biggest producer of sugar, coffee and

orange juice, and the second-largest producer of soya

beans.

Exports of these commodities are already driving

up the exchange rate before the new oil fields have

75 fully come on stream, making it harder for Brazilian

exporters of manufactured goods. Industrial production

has faltered in recent months, with manufacturers

blaming the trend on a flood of cheap Chinese-made

imports.

80____“Brazil has everything that China doesn’t and it’s

natural that, as China continues to grow, it’s just going

to be starved for those resources,” says Harvard’s

Prof Rogoff. “At some level Brazil doesn’t just want

to be exporting natural resources – it wants a more

85 diversified economy. There are going to be some

rising tensions over that.”

_{Adapted from Financial Times - March 15 2011 22:54. Available in:}

_{<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fa11320c-4f48-11e0-9038-00144feab49a,_i_email=y.html>}

_{Retrieved on: June 17, 2011.}

Text I

Brazil: Platform for growth

_{By Joe Leahy}

On the Cidade de Angra dos Reis oil platform,

surrounded by the deep blue South Atlantic, a

Petrobras engineer turns on a tap and watches black

liquid flow into a beaker.

5____It looks and smells like ordinary crude oil.

Nevertheless, for Brazil, this represents something

much more spectacular. Pumped by the national oil

company from “pre-salt” deposits – so-called because

they lie beneath 2,000m of salt – 300km off the coast

10 of Rio de Janeiro, it is some of the first commercial

oil to flow from the country’s giant new deepwater

discoveries.

Already estimated to contain 50bn barrels, and

with much of the area still to be fully explored, the

15 fields contain the world’s largest known offshore oil

deposits. In one step, Brazil could jump up the world

rankings of national oil reserves and production, from

15th to fifth. So great are the discoveries, and the

investment required to exploit them, that they have

20 the potential to transform the country – for good or for ill.

Having seen out booms and busts before,

Brazilians are hoping that this time “the country

of the future” will at last realise its full economic

potential. The hope is that the discoveries will provide

25 a nation already rich in renewable energy with an

embarrassment of resources with which to pursue the

goal of becoming a US of the south.

The danger for Brazil, if it fails to manage this

windfall wisely, is of falling victim to “Dutch disease”.

30 The economic malaise is named after the Netherlands

in the 1970s, where the manufacturing sector withered

after its currency strengthened on the back of a large

gas field discovery combined with rising energy prices.

Even worse, Brazil could suffer a more severe

35 form of the disease, the “oil curse”, whereby nations

rich in natural resources – Nigeria and Venezuela, for

example – grow addicted to the money that flows from

them.

Petrobras chief executive says neither the

40 company nor the country’s oil industry has so far

been big enough to become a government cash cow.

But with the new discoveries, which stretch across an

800km belt off the coast of south-eastern Brazil, this is

going to change. The oil industry could grow from about

45 10 per cent of GDP to up to 25 per cent in the coming

decades, analysts say. To curb any negative effects,

Brazil is trying to support domestic manufacturing

by increasing “local content” requirements in the oil

industry.

50____Without a “firm local content policy”, says

Petrobras CEO, Dutch disease and the oil curse will

take hold. However, “if we have a firm and successful

local content policy, no – because other sectors in the

economy are going to grow as fast as Petrobras”.

55___The other long-term dividend Brazil is seeking

from the discoveries is in research and development

(R&D). Extracting oil from beneath a layer of salt at

great depth, hundreds of kilometres from the coast, is

so challenging that Brazilian engineers see it as a new

60 frontier. If they can perfect this, they can lead the way

in other markets with similar geology, such as Africa.

For its part, Petrobras is spending $800m-$900m

a year over the next five years on R&D, and has

invested $700m in the expansion of its research

65 centre.

Ultimately, Brazil’s ability to avoid Dutch disease

will depend not just on how the money from the oil

is spent. The country is the world’s second biggest

exporter of iron ore. It is the largest exporter of beef.

70 It is also the biggest producer of sugar, coffee and

orange juice, and the second-largest producer of soya

beans.

Exports of these commodities are already driving

up the exchange rate before the new oil fields have

75 fully come on stream, making it harder for Brazilian

exporters of manufactured goods. Industrial production

has faltered in recent months, with manufacturers

blaming the trend on a flood of cheap Chinese-made

imports.

80____“Brazil has everything that China doesn’t and it’s

natural that, as China continues to grow, it’s just going

to be starved for those resources,” says Harvard’s

Prof Rogoff. “At some level Brazil doesn’t just want

to be exporting natural resources – it wants a more

85 diversified economy. There are going to be some

rising tensions over that.”

_{Adapted from Financial Times - March 15 2011 22:54. Available in:}

_{<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fa11320c-4f48-11e0-9038-00144feab49a,_i_email=y.html>}

_{Retrieved on: June 17, 2011.}

Text I

Brazil: Platform for growth

_{By Joe Leahy}

On the Cidade de Angra dos Reis oil platform,

surrounded by the deep blue South Atlantic, a

Petrobras engineer turns on a tap and watches black

liquid flow into a beaker.

5____It looks and smells like ordinary crude oil.

Nevertheless, for Brazil, this represents something

much more spectacular. Pumped by the national oil

company from “pre-salt” deposits – so-called because

they lie beneath 2,000m of salt – 300km off the coast

10 of Rio de Janeiro, it is some of the first commercial

oil to flow from the country’s giant new deepwater

discoveries.

Already estimated to contain 50bn barrels, and

with much of the area still to be fully explored, the

15 fields contain the world’s largest known offshore oil

deposits. In one step, Brazil could jump up the world

rankings of national oil reserves and production, from

15th to fifth. So great are the discoveries, and the

investment required to exploit them, that they have

20 the potential to transform the country – for good or for ill.

Having seen out booms and busts before,

Brazilians are hoping that this time “the country

of the future” will at last realise its full economic

potential. The hope is that the discoveries will provide

25 a nation already rich in renewable energy with an

embarrassment of resources with which to pursue the

goal of becoming a US of the south.

The danger for Brazil, if it fails to manage this

windfall wisely, is of falling victim to “Dutch disease”.

30 The economic malaise is named after the Netherlands

in the 1970s, where the manufacturing sector withered

after its currency strengthened on the back of a large

gas field discovery combined with rising energy prices.

Even worse, Brazil could suffer a more severe

35 form of the disease, the “oil curse”, whereby nations

rich in natural resources – Nigeria and Venezuela, for

example – grow addicted to the money that flows from

them.

Petrobras chief executive says neither the

40 company nor the country’s oil industry has so far

been big enough to become a government cash cow.

But with the new discoveries, which stretch across an

800km belt off the coast of south-eastern Brazil, this is

going to change. The oil industry could grow from about

45 10 per cent of GDP to up to 25 per cent in the coming

decades, analysts say. To curb any negative effects,

Brazil is trying to support domestic manufacturing

by increasing “local content” requirements in the oil

industry.

50____Without a “firm local content policy”, says

Petrobras CEO, Dutch disease and the oil curse will

take hold. However, “if we have a firm and successful

local content policy, no – because other sectors in the

economy are going to grow as fast as Petrobras”.

55___The other long-term dividend Brazil is seeking

from the discoveries is in research and development

(R&D). Extracting oil from beneath a layer of salt at

great depth, hundreds of kilometres from the coast, is

so challenging that Brazilian engineers see it as a new

60 frontier. If they can perfect this, they can lead the way

in other markets with similar geology, such as Africa.

For its part, Petrobras is spending $800m-$900m

a year over the next five years on R&D, and has

invested $700m in the expansion of its research

65 centre.

Ultimately, Brazil’s ability to avoid Dutch disease

will depend not just on how the money from the oil

is spent. The country is the world’s second biggest

exporter of iron ore. It is the largest exporter of beef.

70 It is also the biggest producer of sugar, coffee and

orange juice, and the second-largest producer of soya

beans.

Exports of these commodities are already driving

up the exchange rate before the new oil fields have

75 fully come on stream, making it harder for Brazilian

exporters of manufactured goods. Industrial production

has faltered in recent months, with manufacturers

blaming the trend on a flood of cheap Chinese-made

imports.

80____“Brazil has everything that China doesn’t and it’s

natural that, as China continues to grow, it’s just going

to be starved for those resources,” says Harvard’s

Prof Rogoff. “At some level Brazil doesn’t just want

to be exporting natural resources – it wants a more

85 diversified economy. There are going to be some

rising tensions over that.”

_{Adapted from Financial Times - March 15 2011 22:54. Available in:}

_{<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fa11320c-4f48-11e0-9038-00144feab49a,_i_email=y.html>}

_{Retrieved on: June 17, 2011.}

Text I

Brazil: Platform for growth

_{By Joe Leahy}

On the Cidade de Angra dos Reis oil platform,

surrounded by the deep blue South Atlantic, a

Petrobras engineer turns on a tap and watches black

liquid flow into a beaker.

5____It looks and smells like ordinary crude oil.

Nevertheless, for Brazil, this represents something

much more spectacular. Pumped by the national oil

company from “pre-salt” deposits – so-called because

they lie beneath 2,000m of salt – 300km off the coast

10 of Rio de Janeiro, it is some of the first commercial

oil to flow from the country’s giant new deepwater

discoveries.

Already estimated to contain 50bn barrels, and

with much of the area still to be fully explored, the

15 fields contain the world’s largest known offshore oil

deposits. In one step, Brazil could jump up the world

rankings of national oil reserves and production, from

15th to fifth. So great are the discoveries, and the

investment required to exploit them, that they have

20 the potential to transform the country – for good or for ill.

Having seen out booms and busts before,

Brazilians are hoping that this time “the country

of the future” will at last realise its full economic

potential. The hope is that the discoveries will provide

25 a nation already rich in renewable energy with an

embarrassment of resources with which to pursue the

goal of becoming a US of the south.

The danger for Brazil, if it fails to manage this

windfall wisely, is of falling victim to “Dutch disease”.

30 The economic malaise is named after the Netherlands

in the 1970s, where the manufacturing sector withered

after its currency strengthened on the back of a large

gas field discovery combined with rising energy prices.

Even worse, Brazil could suffer a more severe

35 form of the disease, the “oil curse”, whereby nations

rich in natural resources – Nigeria and Venezuela, for

example – grow addicted to the money that flows from

them.

Petrobras chief executive says neither the

40 company nor the country’s oil industry has so far

been big enough to become a government cash cow.

But with the new discoveries, which stretch across an

800km belt off the coast of south-eastern Brazil, this is

going to change. The oil industry could grow from about

45 10 per cent of GDP to up to 25 per cent in the coming

decades, analysts say. To curb any negative effects,

Brazil is trying to support domestic manufacturing

by increasing “local content” requirements in the oil

industry.

50____Without a “firm local content policy”, says

Petrobras CEO, Dutch disease and the oil curse will

take hold. However, “if we have a firm and successful

local content policy, no – because other sectors in the

economy are going to grow as fast as Petrobras”.

55___The other long-term dividend Brazil is seeking

from the discoveries is in research and development

(R&D). Extracting oil from beneath a layer of salt at

great depth, hundreds of kilometres from the coast, is

so challenging that Brazilian engineers see it as a new

60 frontier. If they can perfect this, they can lead the way

in other markets with similar geology, such as Africa.

For its part, Petrobras is spending $800m-$900m

a year over the next five years on R&D, and has

invested $700m in the expansion of its research

65 centre.

Ultimately, Brazil’s ability to avoid Dutch disease

will depend not just on how the money from the oil

is spent. The country is the world’s second biggest

exporter of iron ore. It is the largest exporter of beef.

70 It is also the biggest producer of sugar, coffee and

orange juice, and the second-largest producer of soya

beans.

Exports of these commodities are already driving

up the exchange rate before the new oil fields have

75 fully come on stream, making it harder for Brazilian

exporters of manufactured goods. Industrial production

has faltered in recent months, with manufacturers

blaming the trend on a flood of cheap Chinese-made

imports.

80____“Brazil has everything that China doesn’t and it’s

natural that, as China continues to grow, it’s just going

to be starved for those resources,” says Harvard’s

Prof Rogoff. “At some level Brazil doesn’t just want

to be exporting natural resources – it wants a more

85 diversified economy. There are going to be some

rising tensions over that.”

_{Adapted from Financial Times - March 15 2011 22:54. Available in:}

_{<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fa11320c-4f48-11e0-9038-00144feab49a,_i_email=y.html>}

_{Retrieved on: June 17, 2011.}