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 Petrobras, the Brazilian-government-controlled oil and gas
multinational, informed that production from the recently discovered
massive oil fields deep below the ocean floor off Brazil's Atlantic
coast was viable at US$ 40 for a barrel for benchmark Brent crude.
The "pre-salt" reserves, so called because they are located under a thick layer of salt, can be extracted at a cost of less than US$ 40 per barrel, Petrobras finance chief Almir Barbassa told reporters in São Paulo.
Brent, used as the benchmark for crude from the pre-salt layer, was trading Tuesday above US$ 66 per barrel.
"But we still have a lot to improve in terms of production and that is something we are working hard at. Our engineers are dedicated to developing a production method that is more adequate for the pre-salt zone," said Barbassa.
The discoveries in the pre-salt layer, first announced in late 2007, could eventually lead to a nearly six-fold increase in Brazil's current proven reserves of 14 billion barrels and transform the leading Mercosur member in a major oil exporter.
Acknowledging that Petrobras alone is not capable of developing the massive pre-salt reserves, Brazil announced last month that it would invite foreign oil companies to bid for concessions in that area beginning next year. Brazil halted the sale of concessions after the massive finds were made.
Brazil expects "to go from production of between 2 and 2.4 million barrels of petroleum daily to 5.7 million in 2020," Barbassa said.
The "ambitious" strategic plan unveiled by Petrobras in January was well-received by investors, with the company's shares on the São Paulo and New York stock exchanges outperforming the benchmark indexes for both markets, Barbassa said.
In January, the Brazilian oil giant released its 2009-2013 business plan, which includes the pre-salt assets for the first time and calls for a sharp increase in investment from 112.4 billion to 174.4 billion US dollars.
"We were prepared for the crisis that came. So we were able to announce an ambitious plan in the middle of a crisis that required more financing than previous ones and thereby keep the company on pretty solid ground," added Barbassa.
Petrobras, an integrated energy company and the global leader in deepwater oil exploration and production, operates in 27 countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.
Shares of Petrobras, Brazil's largest corporation, trade on the São Paulo, New York, Madrid and Buenos Aires stock exchanges, but the Brazilian government retains control through a golden share.
Mercopress
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The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
One hundred and eleven years after Brazil abolished slavery, the number of workers deprived of their freedom is still huge. They raise cattle, produce charcoal, sugar cane or timber. Some of them, most undocumented Bolivians, work in basements of small apparel factories in São Paulo and other metropolis. 
On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern facing environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, and a growing number of the Amazonian indigenous peoples. For decades they have feared for the fate of the world's most biologically diverse and species-rich hothouse. 
Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose. 
The push of vigilante groups in Rio de Janeiro's favelas (shantytowns) in the last three years is the most important and alarming information of the just-released study by the Rio de Janeiro University's Violence Research Center (Nupev-Uerj). 
A dispute over drug trafficking territory in Rio de Janeiro has intensified lately, leaving in its wake unprecedented acts of violence, such as the downing of a police helicopter in the northern zone of the city on October 17. Three policemen died and another two were injured. This event has drawn the attention of the international media, who are raising the issue of public security for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio.
And Venezuela population is 1/6th the Brazilian population.
Did/does that makes Venezuela a developed and wealthy country ? Not to my knowledge...for sure !
Stupid question to all proud Brazilians :
1) Short memory of your Ultra Mega " Proven & Viable" Project of building a pipeline with Chavez the Clown from Venezuela down to Brazil and Argentina ???????
2) Short memory of your "proven and guaranteed" maths that your sugarcane ethanol industry was profitable at US$ 35.- per barrel oil equivalent ? then why was your ethanol industry LOSING money when the 2008 average oil price was at US$ 99.- ?????
Lets the new Brazilian Bubble Develops ! There is still money to made...until the next burst and meltdown....as usual !
And as usual Brazilians will be the smartest cookies on earth for the bull , and the villains foreigners responsible for the next meltdown !
Nothing new ! absolutely Nothinggggg new under the sun !
Stay bullish. I am...for the time being !
A word of caution for your sugar & ethanol :
Sugar is at close to the 2005 year top of US$ 20 cents per pound.
I already, today, started to short sugar (March 2010 futures prices) lightly at 18,30 cents and will continue to short with 2 cents scale at higher prices. Hopefully it goes higher first, so that I can add a few more shorts.