Eike Batista, Brazil's richest man, plans to build a 600 million reais ($331 million) shipyard, betting that demand for oil rigs and drilling ships will surge as the country taps billions of barrels of offshore crude, Valor Economico said on Tuesday.
Batista will build the shipyard in Biguacu, a coastal town in the southern state of Santa Catarina, Valor said, without saying how it got the information. Batista's EBX holding, which has interests in mining and oil among other industries, will pay for the project.
He will meet state authorities on Tuesday to present the plan, for which he has won a series of tax breaks, Valor said. The newspaper said EBX declined to comment on the plan. Works might start during 2010, Valor said.
Government officials have estimated there is a minimum of 50 billion barrels in the so-called subsalt fields, which, if tapped, would make Brazil the world's fourth-largest producer of oil. The subsalt area spans more than 800 kilometers along Brazil's Atlantic coast from the state of Espirito Santo in the southeast through Santa Catarina in the south.
Batista will build the shipyard in Biguacu, a coastal town in the southern state of Santa Catarina, Valor said, without saying how it got the information. Batista's EBX holding, which has interests in mining and oil among other industries, will pay for the project.
He will meet state authorities on Tuesday to present the plan, for which he has won a series of tax breaks, Valor said. The newspaper said EBX declined to comment on the plan. Works might start during 2010, Valor said.
Government officials have estimated there is a minimum of 50 billion barrels in the so-called subsalt fields, which, if tapped, would make Brazil the world's fourth-largest producer of oil. The subsalt area spans more than 800 kilometers along Brazil's Atlantic coast from the state of Espirito Santo in the southeast through Santa Catarina in the south.