Document from the BWM WilliamsF1 Team

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, December 16. At a press conference in Rio today,
Francisco Gros, President of Petrobras and Frank Williams, Team Principal of
the
BMW WilliamsF1 Team, announced a two year extension in their long term
sponsorship and technical partnership.

Petrobras, the Brazilian state oil company, has provided WilliamsF1 with one
of
the most competitive race fuels in the pitlane since 1998. The product of
extensive research and development at Cenpes Research Centre in Brazil,
Petrobrasí race fuels have provided the team with quantifiable performance
benefits on the track. This technical co-operation, which has already
benefited
both Petrobras and WilliamsF1 for five years, will be extended and increased
until
the end of the 2004 season.

Francisco Gros, Petrobras President, said, Petrobras has recently invested
over
US$1m in the development of a dedicated plant at the Cenpes Research Centre
to develop, test and produce specialist fuels explicitly for Formula One.
The
extension of our relationship with the BMW WilliamsF1 Team will consolidate
our
technical progress with both state-of-the-art facilities and a partnership
with one of
the worldís leading motor racing teams.ì

Petrobras Director, RogÈrio Manso said, Our long-term relationship with the
BMW WilliamsF1 Team has prospered both because of the technical advances
we have all enjoyed, but also because this relationship has clear commercial
benefits, one clear example of which is Petrobrasë new forecourt fuel,
Podium. It is
for these reasons that we are delighted to be renewing our Formula One
partnership.ì

The lessons learnt in developing race fuels for the worldís most technically
demanding sport have been brought to the forecourt pump across Brazil, with
the
launch of a new road car fuel, Podium.

Podium gasoline, approved by WilliamsF1, was developed using the same
technology applied by Petrobras to produce the gasoline for Formula One.
Petrobras Podium gasoline, with a higher octane rating, enables high speed
vehicles to perform better, principally when re-accelerating. After a
successful
pilot in two Brazilian cities, Podium is being rolled out to eight cities
across the
country.

Frank Williams, Managing Director of WilliamsF1 and Team Principal of the
BMW
WilliamsF1 Team, commented on the announcement of the contract extension,
"There can be no stronger validation of the value of a partnership than to
see it
extended to seven years in duration. We at the BMW WilliamsF1 Team know only
too well the value that committed technical partners such as Petrobras can
make to our on-track performance, and I am delighted that the commercial and
technical
benefits in return prove to be as attractive for our business partners.ì