The Wall Street Journal-20080123-Natural-Gas Find May Sustain Brazil
Return to: The_Wall_Street_Journal-20080123
Natural-Gas Find May Sustain Brazil
Associated Press
RIO DE JANEIRO -- The discovery of a huge natural-gas reserve off the coast of Rio de Janeiro could make Latin America's largest country self-sufficient in that fuel, a top official for Brazil's state oil company said yesterday.
The discovery of the reserve about three miles below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean was announced Monday by Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras.
"If this field has the gas that Petrobras believes it has, it will make Brazil self-sufficient in natural gas," Guilherme Estrella, the company's production and exploration director, said at a news conference. "If it meets our expectations . . . it could supply Brazil's demands."
He said it would take Petrobras at least two years to determine if the find is commercially viable. If so, production probably wouldn't begin before 2014.
Mr. Estrella said the find could boost Brazil's bargaining power with Bolivia, which supplies about half of the natural gas used in Brazil.
