Policies to support the oil and gas industry in Brazil: a study of public actions to develop the value chain

Abstract Because of its strategic importance to the economy and politics, the Oil and Gas Industry played a central role, especially from the 1970s onwards, in an intense involvement of the Brazilian state. In this context, the objective of this article is to analyze the Value Chain Development Policy of the Oil and Natural Gas Industry between 1999 and 2014, especially the Repetro programs, Local Content Policy and the BNDES O&G Program. A qualitative method of “Coherence Postulate”, based on the interrelation of three components, Organizations-Methods-Purposes with specific elements of each policy, is used. Thus, the method is intended to assist in evaluating the consistency between the components and the planned policy results. It is concluded that the policies are inconsistent and do not make it possible to develop public actions and achieve the results required to increase the competitiveness of domestic enterprises.