macaé, once a simple village-turned-city supported by agriculture, fishing, livestock and tourism industries, is today considered one of the most important economic centers in rio de janeiro and the national petroleum capital of brazil as a whole - as of 2011, oil production in macaé accounted for 80% of all oil and 47% of all natural gas supplied throughout the entire country.

petroleum exploration in the campos basin began in the 1970s, the subsequent discovery of oil garnered the attention of national oil company petrobrás, which established an operational base in macaé shortly thereafter - the city quickly became the subject of an unprecedented industrial boom, evolving into one of the wealthiest cities in the state of rio de janeiro by helping brazil become almost fully self-sufficient in fuel production.