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Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Brazil Expresses Interest in OPEC Membership
May 12, 2008 6:03 PM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wants his country to join OPEC, an action he says could help lower worldwide petroleum prices.
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Brazil recently made a substantial oil discovery and is working toward becoming a large oil exporter around 2010.
The country’s newly-discovered Carioca field could hold up to 33 billion barrels of petroleum, but this number has drawn skepticism from some industry experts.
Regardless, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva seems confident in his country’s assets, and said Brazil is thinking about joining OPEC, a move that might help lower petroleum prices.
Brazil has other resources it wants to share with the world, too. The country is a leader in biofuel production, and aims to produce enough ethanol to meet all of its energy needs by 2025 and have enough left over to fuel 5 percent of the world.
Despite the fact that other countries, including the United States, are also producing large amounts of biofuel, da Silva says production “can be better done by us and the Africans.” Brazil uses a different process to make biofuel than the United States and Europe.
Worldwide, fuel costs and production levels remain a considerable issue. Some countries are looking for additional reserves and instituting new biofuel laws. Talk of peak oil has others wondering how to conserve the energy they have.
OPEC recently denied requests by the United States to boost production, saying the market had sufficient supplies.
The country’s newly-discovered Carioca field could hold up to 33 billion barrels of petroleum, but this number has drawn skepticism from some industry experts.
Regardless, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva seems confident in his country’s assets, and said Brazil is thinking about joining OPEC, a move that might help lower petroleum prices.
Brazil has other resources it wants to share with the world, too. The country is a leader in biofuel production, and aims to produce enough ethanol to meet all of its energy needs by 2025 and have enough left over to fuel 5 percent of the world.
Despite the fact that other countries, including the United States, are also producing large amounts of biofuel, da Silva says production “can be better done by us and the Africans.” Brazil uses a different process to make biofuel than the United States and Europe.
Worldwide, fuel costs and production levels remain a considerable issue. Some countries are looking for additional reserves and instituting new biofuel laws. Talk of peak oil has others wondering how to conserve the energy they have.
OPEC recently denied requests by the United States to boost production, saying the market had sufficient supplies.
Headline Link: Brazil looking at OPEC membership
Brazil is working toward becoming an oil exporter. “We want to join Opec and try to make oil cheaper,” said president da Silva. Large consumer countries like the United States are expected to pressure Brazil not to join the organization, reports the Times.
Source: The Times
“Our production costs are unbeatable,” da Silva said of his country’s biofuel production. Brazil uses sugar cane to make fuel, while the United States and Europe use corn and sugar beets, which is a less efficient process.
Source: Spiegel Online
As Brazil looks at joining OPEC, Indonesia is reevaluating its OPEC membership. Presently, the country is a net oil importer, and could temporarily withdraw its membership while it works on boosting production again.
Source: MarketWatch
Background: Brazil’s energy resources
Oil and gas
A senior energy official in Brazil recently announced that the country’s newly-discovered Carioca field could hold up to 33 billion barrels of petroleum. Some industry experts are skeptical of this high number, but a professor of energy policy at Oxford University said he wasn’t surprised. “Whether it is attributed to Carioca itself or elsewhere it should not distract from the point that there is plenty of oil around,” he stated.
Source: The Guardian
Biofuel
Brazil has successfully mass-produced biofuel for motor vehicles since the mid-1980s. Biofuel production helped negate lasting effects of high oil prices during the 1970s. But the eventual fall of prices and a string of other circumstances meant Brazil’s biofuel program “was very nearly consigned to history,” writes BBC News. Now, countries around the world have recognized biofuel’s potential.
Source: BBC News
Related Topics: Oil and gas prices, peak oil and biofuels
Oil and gas prices
Oil prices have reached record highs, meaning some countries are looking for additional oil reserves. But should they go after them?
Source: findingDulcinea
OPEC provides a chart showing how gas prices differ among the G7 nations. The primary factor affecting prices in each country is taxes, not fuel price variations.
Source: OPEC
Peak oil
Many experts believe that world supplies of oil are leveling off and may soon begin to drop permanently. FindingDulcinea suggests 10 practical ways to start reducing energy consumption now.
Source: findingDulcinea
Biofuels
Biofuels have been touted as a potential solution to limited conventional energy supplies and as a means of helping the environment. However, in places like the U.K., some officials are wondering if requirements to use biofuels were “overhasty,” because there is insufficient data on the carbon footprint left by biofuels production.
Source: findingDulcinea
Reference: OPEC, Biofuels
OPEC aims to coordinate oil prices among its member nations and to provide a stable supply of petroleum to consuming nations. Learn about the creation of OPEC and the organization’s history at the OPEC Web site.
Source: OPEC
BBC News offers a guide to biofuels, which are “any kind of fuel made from living things, or from the waste they produce.”
Source: BBC News
© 2008 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
