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.