Brazil is already independent of foreign oil, yet it is aggressively exploring for oil in its continental shelf. In the past year it has made several new discoveries that will add significantly to its reserves and provide the fuel and petroleum products needed for its growing economy as well as to replace mature oil fields that at some point will go into decline.
And where does the Brazilian energy company Petrobras turn for the most technologically advanced oil rigs for deep water drilling? The U.S. One month ago U.S. company Transocean signed a $4 billion contract with Petrobras.
While U.S. oil fields are mature and our oil reserves are not holding their own, Brazil's and Canada's reserves are growing. The difference is both countries are exploring and developing their own resources, But the U.S. Congress has been banning such exploration and development for decades, thus making the U.S. more and more dependent on others for oil, including countries with unstable or hostile regimes and less-tthan-exemplary environmental practices.
The Republicans in the House of Representativesw who have taken the floor during recess demanding the House come back in session to pass a drilling bill are doing the right thing for America and our citizens. The Democratic leadership is failing abysmally in its duty. If $4 gasoline isn't a wake-up call for Pelosi-Obama-Reid, maybe the votes of an angry public in November will be.
Meanwhile, Brazil moves ahead.
Brazil: Petrobras To Start Pre-Salt Well Production
August 6, 2008
Brazilian state oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA plans to begin production from an oil well in the pre-salt area in the Campos Basin on Aug. 12, Bloomberg reported Aug. 6, citing O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper. The well, in the Jubarte field, is expected to produce 10,000 to 15,000 barrels of oil per day. The Cachalote field, which is next to the Jubarte, will start production in October. Production in the pre-salt area in Jubarte will serve as a test for the development of large oil fields, such as Tupi, in the Santos Basin.
Source: Strategic Forecasting, Inc.
