BP's disaster alter Brazil's future
Friday, July 30, 2010 at 12:06AM 
One big casualty of the BP disaster in the Gulf: Brazilian estimates of how easy it’s going to be to tap that huge oil find off its coast. Insurance goes up, as will regulations, as will safety margins in general. Worst, the whole planning process currently underway has seen a huge injection of uncertainty added to the mix, especially since the technological challenges of the Brazilian fields significantly surpass those of Gulf wells (deeper drilling and further out at sea).
Brazilian regs on deepwater drilling are already viewed as more stringent than those of the US, but many in the industry wonder if the NOC (national oil company) in question, Petrobras, is really up to the challenge.
The market seems skeptical: of the global majors, Petrobras’ stock is the second-worst performing this year, trailing only that of stricken BP.
Reader Comments (1)
BP now owns the only known technology to cap a leak on the ocean floor. One wonders: could this be a way for it to monetize the disaster? The entire time the leak was pumping, I kept wondering if any of the other oil companies were aiding BP in research for the technology. If they didn't, then doesn't BP stand to gain from it now? Just a thought.