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Pre-salt oil tangible resource for Brazil: Rousseff
July 2, 2014, 6:29 am

File photo of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, center right, arm raised, with workers at the Petrobras P-56 oil platform in Angra dos Reis, Brazil. The offshore platform, with a capacity of 100,000 barrels per day, was constructed entirely in Brazil, costing 1.5 billion dollars in 2011 [AP]

File photo of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff, center right, arm raised, with workers at the Petrobras P-56 oil platform in Angra dos Reis, Brazil. The offshore platform, with a capacity of 100,000 barrels per day, was constructed entirely in Brazil, costing 1.5 billion dollars in 2011 [AP]

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Tuesday celebrated the success of national deep-sea oil exploration in the pre-salt reserves of the South Atlantic.

Rousseff presided over a ceremony marking state-run oil and gas giant Petrobras reaching a production milestone of 500,000 barrels a day at pre-salt reserves.

“History of oil exploration in Brazil is its history of popular mobilization against backwardness,” she said.

Petrobras, the biggest company in Brazil, is a pioneer in oil exploration in ultra-deep waters below a layer of salt, and the country has extensive offshore pre-salt oil reserves.

Petrobras’ achievement proves pre-salt oil is a “tangible resource” and benefit for the Brazilian population, said Rousseff.

The president also defended the company against recent accusations of irregularities in a deal to purchase an oil refinery in Pasadena, Texas. Critics say it paid 20 times the market value.

The questionable purchase was an “isolated incident” that should not tarnish the company’s image, she said.

The opposition has said Rousseff erred in approving the purchase when she was Petrobras’ chairwoman in 2006.

The deal prompted the Senate to open an investigation into Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s $1.2 billion purchase of Pasadena Refining Systems Inc.

Meanwhile, Rousseff’s begins her reelection campaign after the World Cup for the presidential polls that are scheduled for October this year.

A poll conducted by CNI/Ibope showed her approval rating fell to 31% in June from 36% in March.

 

Source: Agencies