Presalt draws international investors

摘要

Brazil's massive presalt reserves and the need for development open opportunities for services providers. Brazil's massive presalt finds made by state-controlled oil company Petrobras signal that its energy sector's time has come. Experts estimate there are more than 50 Bbbl of recoverable light crude in the presalt's Santos Basin alone. Adding to optimism surrounding Brazil's prospects is the fact that it has been shielded from the worst of the global credit crunch. In an ironic twist, some of the unreformed aspects of Brazil's economy, such as state influence over the financial sector (a legacy of the country's past as an inflation-ridden debtor), have helped limit the damage. The government controls key banks, including the country's largest mortgage lender, as well as a large development bank that provides easy credit to favored companies. Hefty reserve requirements and taxes on funding loans increased the price of credit, discouraging the type of high-risk lending that has brought down other countries' economies.