OIL AND WATER

摘要

In the face of fears of a global energy crunch and complaints over high oil prices, newly discovered oil reserves tend to be celebrated. Predictably, much excitement was generated by finds in the Tupi offshore fields in Brazilian territorial waters that have been estimated at between five and eight billion barrels of oil with the potential of many times that number. They also hold the promise of making Brazil a much bigger hitter in the highly lucrative oil production business. BP chief executive Tony Hayward has said the finds are as significant as those in the North Sea in the 1970s. But the excitement was quickly quelled. Known as 'pre-salt' fields because they are buried under a layer of salt, the reserves will not be easy to access. But a bigger barrier might be the Brazilian state's keenness to get its hands on them.