The CRCC (“Certificado de Registro no Cadastro Corporativo”) is the registry required for companies willing to be included in PETROBRAS’ vendor list, in which the supplier provides information about the company and specifies the products to be offered to PETROBRAS. Based on the information comprised therein, PETROBRAS invites companies to participate in tenders or direct purchase negotiation related to the products specified in the CRCC.

As a matter of fact, many companies had already come to our Firm seeking advice once they were disqualified in Petrobras tenders due to the lack of CRCC registry. Moreover, even some of our clients, who already had CRCC enrollment, experienced problems in the renewal of their contracts just because they failed to timely update their CRCC or failed to include a particular product. We dare to say that the CRCC enrollment is close to become a mandatory registry in PETROBRAS sales. As an example, other clients of our Firm, which are Petrobras' suppliers for more than 30 years, are now being pressed on a daily basis by Petrobras managers to complete their CRCC registration.

In a few months, with very few exceptions, companies without CRCC enrollment will be prevented from selling or rendering services to PETROBRAS.

 

 

It is important to emphasize that the CRCC enrollment is a long and complex procedure. Companies are required to submit literally more than a hundred documents regarding in-depth detail of company's legal and financing standing, facilities, manufacturing processes, personnel, technical specifications of equipment, etc. Additionally, the procedure also involves the visit of a PETROBRAS representative to the company’s facilities, which may take several months to be scheduled. In view of these constraints, the CRCC enrollment procedure usually lasts for over two years to be dully concluded.

However, owing to the expertise developed over the years, our company is now in a position to get CRCC within 90-120 days following the filing of CRCC application form and the basic documentation required. Other firms will likely take one year and a half or even two years to conclude this process. This expeditious CRCC registration service is rendered by a multidisciplinary group composed by lawyers, engineers and accounting people specialized in this kind of registration, most of them former PETROBRAS engineers who worked at the CRCC division. It is also important to highlight that our services are quoted in a lump sum basis, regardless of the number of products to be included in the CRCC registry.

This practice includes most notably legal assistance in projects involving the operation, purchase and sale, construction, conversion, upgrade and chartering (bareboat, time, and voyage charters) of ships and offshore units such as Jack-Up’s, Spars, TLP’s, Semi-Submersibles, Drillships, FPSO’s, FSO’s, as well as support vessels (PSV’s, Line Handlers, AHTS), seismic vessels, and coastal-trade an long-haul Bulk-Carriers, Chemical and OilTankers, LNG vessels (including FSRV’s and SRV’s), and various other vessels.

Also included are the various kinds of service agreements, most notably drilling service agreements and completion agreements (e.g.: workover), as well as supply of customized equipment (e.g.: drilling packages, topsides and the sub-sea systems, and equipment “by the piece”, such as offshore cranes, manifolds, turrets, derricks, cantilever, umbilicals, risers, rov’s and wet xmas trees, thrusters, power modules, compression modules, hydraulic pumps, etc...

Our extensive experience in working with oil field service companies and operators has built a strong transactional knowhow combined with in-depth business, financial, and technical knowledge.

 

 

Other typical engagements can involve:

• Marine transportation of hydrocarbons, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas
• Marine pollution
• Arbitration on maritime issues
• Workout of debt secured by maritime assets
• Negotiation and out-of-cort settlement of contract disputes
• Maritime construction contracts
• Cabotage (coastal trade) laws and coastwise-trade issues
• Vessel safety and security
• Tug, tow, vessel escort and salvage issues
• Port liability and conditions-of-use issues
• Negotiation with port authorities, other port users, the Navy, unions, tax and labor authorities
• Enrollment of companies in the Petrobras vendors list (CRCC)
• Structuring and negotiation of associations (consortium negotiations) among local and foreign companies

The Firm is one of the few Brazilian law firms with a practice solely dedicated to construction law. Our clients rely on us to assist them in all aspects of global construction projects, commencing at project inception and continuing through “punchlist” completion and beyond. Many Firm’s lawyers have substantial “hands on” experience in the engineering and construction industry and are comfortable “rolling up their sleeves” and working with the client’s engineers and consultants to coordinate the terms and conditions with the technical exhibits.

The Firm’s attorneys also have considerable experience arbitrating and litigating construction disputes, giving clients strong understanding of problems that can arise during projects and how to prevent or handle them. The Firm’s construction law practice team is experienced in all aspects of project planning, including structuring of contracts to obtain the best tax treatment, negotiating “financeable” deals when projects require capital, providing advice on issues from consortium formation and funding alternatives to insurance strategies, and advising how to reduce risks and claims, liability, and handling change orders and disputes.


Project development: the complex bundle of activities required to turn an idea
into a profitable operation, is the firm’s specialty.

 

 

 

Some projects where the Firm’s lawyers have advised include the construction of:

• Offshore rigs and offshore oil production facilities
• Power plants (hydro, thermal and wind)
• Transmission lines
• Heavy industries facilities
• Petrochemical plants
• Refineries
• Ethanol plants
• Build chemical and oil tankers
• LNG vessels

The typical legal assistance in these projects includes:

• Advising on the appropriate projects, contract and funding structure and on the possibilities of associations between local and international industry players
• Drafting requests for proposals, (RFP’s) tender notices and other related documents for procurement purposes
• Drafting and negotiating supply and construction-related agreements
• Assessing project liability and risks
• Reducing claims by implementing proven project contract management tools
• Developing tailor-made security packages and negotiation the acceptance then of by tenders
• Providing contract administration throughout design and construction up to punch list and beyond trough the warranty period
• Dispute resolution

Our tipical legal assistance in the infrastructure industry inclues:

• Multidisciplinary advice on developing new businesses in the Brazilian marketplace, with a keen eye on regulatory constraints, market players, strategy concerns, and crafting sound bankable business plans

• Due Diligence, Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestiture of companies and business units/assets

• Counseling in corporate law and dealing with the companies’ registrar and the securities exchange commission, drafting of corporate resolutions and keeping of corporate books

• Finance - Assisting clients in obtaining inexpensive subsidized financing with the Brazilian Development Bank - BNDES and other regional development banks, and in projects benefited by the Brazil’s Infrastructure Growth Stimulus Plan, nicknamed PAC, or Growth Acceleration Plan

• Tax – Specialized tax advice and tax planning, particularly in the shipping and petroleum offshore industries. The Firm assists foreign companies in fully understanding the intricacies of the Brazilian tax system and in developing tax-optimum solutions for their operations. The Firm also helps clients obtain federal and local tax benefits

• Specialized labor and visa consultancy in the oil and gas, shipping and petroleum offshore industries, including negotiation with unions

• Specialized consultancy in environmental law

• Specialized consultancy in insurance law

• Arbitration and litigation of disputes