Brazil changes oil drilling rules

[dipsydoodle]

Brazil's Congress has modified laws relating to the country's oil sector which could increase development of its offshore oil fields.

The bill ensures that the state-run oil company Petrobras will have a 30% stake in any new joint exploration ventures in Brazil's offshore fields.

Exploitation of the reserves could turn Brazil into a global energy exporter.

President-elect Dilma Rousseff helped to draft the proposals while chief of staff in the current government.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11897113

[social_critic]

1. Headline is off

Rather than drilling rules, the change is in the licensing process. The Norwegians had a similar system, demanding that Statoil hold a percentage of the joint venture. Colombia has a similar system, Ecopetrol has an interest in the project, but the participants are direct owners, and there's no corporate JV. This structure is different from the Venezuelan or Cuban JV structure, which creates a corporation to hold the license, with shares issued to the foreign investors.