Profile of an Oil Producer: Brazil
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (in white hardhat) posing with oil workers. (image: allianz.com)
The largest and most populous country in South America, Brazil boasts more than just beautiful beaches and beautiful people, though it does have its fair share of both. Notwithstanding large disparities in income levels and high crime rates, Brazil stands as South America’s leading economic power, supported by its new and challenging role as a major player in the world of oil.
Oil Production in Brazil
According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), Brazil held 12.6 billion barrels of proven oil reserves as of 2009. In 2008 the country produced 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd), 76 percent of which was crude oil. Based on the EIA’s 2009 Short Term Energy Outlook, the agency predicts that Brazil’s output will reach 2.61 million bpd in 2009 and 2.81 million bpd in 2010. Mostly energy self-sufficient, the country’s oil consumption totaled 2.52 million bpd in 2008.
In comparison with other oil-producing nations, Brazil’s output is still on the low side. Venezuela, Brazil’s OPEC counterpart in South America, currently has proven crude reserves of 172 billion barrels and produces 3.12 million barrels per day. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest producer of oil, boasts reserves of 264 billion barrels and churns out 9.1 million barrels per day. Overall, Brazil is the world’s fifteenth largest oil producer, and the second largest in South America, after Venezuela.
Petrobras CEO: Peak Oil Production is Now | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Sergio Gabrielli in which he estimated that world oil production would peak this year. Gabrielli, head of Brazil’s national oil company, joined the ranks of other international oil honchos, including former Aramco executive Sadad [...]
Offshore Wind Energy Could Grow Rapidly in Next Decade | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] drilling has yielded huge oil discoveries in recent years (making countries like Brazil and Angola oil powers), and offshore drilling rights were dangled as a carrot to entice senators to [...]
Brazil Set to Become Latin America’s Biggest Oil and Gas Producer by 2011 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] As the Wall Street Journal reported on December 17, Brazil has recently made major offshore petroleum and natural gas finds. Much of the new reserves lie deep under the ocean floor, in “subsalt” formations that pose significant technical challenges to drilling. However, improvements in drilling technology and methods, combined with crude prices that make oil production attractive even at great expense, have made deep reserves economically viable. These new reserves—one field alone is estimated to hold between 5 and 8 billion barrels of oil—greatly add to Brazil’s existing proven reserves of 12.6 billion barrels. [...]
Oil Supply Could Lower Oil Prices in Next Decade | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] demand and low supply are over, he says. Looking ahead, the so-called BRINK countries—Brazil (now the 15th largest producer of oil in the world), Russia, Iraq, Nigeria and Kazakhstan—could increase oil production earlier than expected and [...]
Opinion: Price of Crude Oil Poised to Rise in Next Months—Or Is It? | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Zealand and in the Gulf of Mexico, and large, as-yet-untapped reserves in many places (including Brazil and the Arctic), there has been as much good news lately about oil reserves as bad. Some of these [...]
How the Price of Oil Can Rise While Supply Increases | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] for instance, Brazil. Deep below the Santos basin, off the country’s coast, several massive oilfields have been [...]
Shell Pioneers Oil Exploration Off Guyana in South America | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] similarly directed attention to Angola after the 2007 discovery of the Tupi oil fields in Brazil. As HeatingOil.com reported on October 19, Brazil is now the world’s fifteenth largest oil producer and the second largest in South America [...]