Business | Oil & Gas

Channel Sponsor

Brazil Navy gears up to safeguard offshore oil finds

Brazil's armed forces will hold manoeuvres next month to show they are capable of defending new offshore oil reserves that could convert the country into a global energy player, a senior official said.

  • Reuters
  • Published: 23:51 August 16, 2008
  • Gulf News

Sao Paulo: Brazil's armed forces will hold manoeuvres next month to show they are capable of defending new offshore oil reserves that could convert the country into a global energy player, a senior official said.

The state-owned oil company Petrobras made headlines last November when it discovered a deposit with estimated reserves of five to eight billion barrels, the world's second-biggest discovery in 20 years. The find could make Brazil one of the top 10 producers in the world, Petrobras said.

Since then some nationalist politicians and officers have raised concerns that other countries could possibly challenge Brazil's sovereignty over the reserves.

"We don't have a likely challenger or enemy. Within a modern view of planning, you send a signal to the international community - I am prepared," Admiral Edlander Santos, who will command the manoeuvres, told Reuters.

"It's an important sign because it prevents people from turning into possible challengers," Santos said in a telephone interview.

Santos downplayed the reestablishment of the US Fourth Fleet 58 years after the US Navy had decommissioned it. The Fourth Fleet is to help combat drug trafficking and offer humanitarian relief in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The US has said it would respect Brazil's territorial seas and exclusive econ-omic zones, which include the oil reserves.

As part of Operation Atlantic manoeuvres on Sep-tember 12-26, the Brazilian armed forces will simulate an attack by a fictitious enemy on oil drilling facilities such as platforms and pipelines in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Espirito Santos states and offshore.

  • Rate this article
  • Average reader rating (1 votes) 0 Stars
Tools

Emailing an article to friend is a simple way to share a news item. Your friend will receive an email with your name and email address as well any personal message you choose to send.

The information you provide on this page will not be used to send unsolicited emails.

This service is not intended to encourage spam, and action may be taken against individuals who maliciously enter personal details of another individual.

Share this article

More from Oil & Gas

  1. Oill prices fall below $76

  2. Al Hamili heads UAE team to OAPEC meet

  3. Reliance offer for world's 3rd largest petrochem firm

  4. Saudis certain to adopt DME crude benchmark

All articles in Oil & Gas

More from Business

Gulf News
Popular in Business
Airlines in the region
Budget travel

Airlines in the region

Take a pictorial look at some of the budget airlines in GCC

Business Editor's choice