The purpose of the Cenpes - the Leopoldo Américo Miguez de Mello Research and Development Center - is to meet the technological demands that drive Petrobras. Technology, one of its main areas, is the basis to consolidate and expand Petrobras in the world energy scene. As a result of the research that is performed there, the Company today dominates countless technologies that make it the largest Brazilian. With nearly 2,000 employees spread over an area of 122,000 square meters, the Cenpes has 30 pilot units and 137 labs that serve the Company’s several departments. The Cenpes technical staff’s excellence is proven by the number of people who hold graduate degrees. Petrobras’ Research Center wrapped 2007 up with 178 doctors and 478 masters on its staff. The technologies that are developed at the Cenpes turn Petrobras into the company that generates the most patents in Brazil and abroad. The number of patent request submissions in 2007 show the Cenpes is one of the world’s biggest applied research centers. In 2007 alone, in Brazil, 22 patents were granted and requests submitted for 59 more. Abroad, 129 requests were submitted and 29 granted.