Offshore staff
(Brazil)- Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is set to announce his country's upcoming self-sufficiency in oil from the deck of the newP-50 oil rig off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state.
Sergio Gabrielli, CEO of state-run oil firm Petrobras, will accompany Lula on the platform, according to a company press official.
TheP-50 platform is slated in coming days to start producing from the Albacoara Leste field in the oil-rich Campos Basin. The platform is expected to reach its output peak of 180,000 b/d within six months. Petrobras is also expected to start production at another 100,000 b/d platform off Espírito Santo state in May.
As the new platforms ramp up production, Brazil will reach its decades-old dream of self-sufficiency in oil within the next few months. Petrobras defines self-sufficiency as the point when the country's production surpasses consumption on a sustained basis.
The company reckons Brazil's oil consumption this year will average 1.85 MMb/d. Petrobras recently said it produced an average of 1.75 MMb/d of oil from its Brazilian fields in March.
Luiz Broad, an oil analyst at the Agora Senior brokerage in Rio de Janeiro called the impending self-sufficiency "an important date for the country, and Petrobras has every right to be proud. The company pioneered in the production of heavy crude from deep waters,"
After self-sufficiency, Brazil will soon become a net oil exporter. Petrobras reckons it will reach net oil exports of 110,000 b/d by the end of 2006. The company will still need to import some light crude to produce high-quality fuels, but it will export larger amounts of heavy crude.
The net exporter status will boost Brazil's trade surplus and help shield the country from oil price shocks, as Petrobras said it won't pass on the spikes in international oil prices to Brazilian consumers. Petrobras will only follow longer-term price movements on markets when setting domestic gasoline and diesel fuel prices.
Petrobras plans to launch a campaign on Brazil's self-sufficiency in oil very soon. The cost of the campaign is reported by Brazilian media to be $17 million, but Petrobras doesn't disclose its cost.
04/19/2006
