Brazil's Oil Set to Change International Energy and Geopolitical Situation

Location of Brazil's Offshore Oil Fields

As noted in the previous post, it looks as though Brazil massive recent oil finds is set to turn that country into a major energy superpower.  The New York Times had an excellent article a few months ago analyzing how this might affect the global geopolitical situation.

The Times article notes that by 2020 Brazil could end up as the fourth largest oil producer in the world, trailing only Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States.  New oil technologies in the area of offshore and horizontal drilling and fracking are set to unlock huge previously inaccessible oil reserves throughout the Americas.  As this occurs, it is natural that the influence of current OPEC producers such as Iran, the UAE, Kuwait, Venezuela and others will shrink, and as the United States and the West becomes less dependent on Middle Eastern oil, significantly more attention will be put on the relationship with Brazil.  The Brazialian national oil company Petrobras will still need significant foreign capital and expertise to unlock Brazil's oil riches, but Petrobras has shown itself much more willing to work with foreign partners than national oil companies in the Middle East and in such countries as Mexico and Venezuela.

For those interested, do read the full article from the New York Times.