Brazil launching $5 billion hunt for more oil

Effort would provide ships, rigs for deep water extraction

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Brazil on Monday announced plans to spend at least $5 billion to develop deep water oil finds, building new ships and hiring rigs as soaring world fuel prices boost demand for drilling equipment.

State-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, will spend $5 billion to build 146 ships and plans to hire 40 deep-water drilling rigs and platforms, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told shipbuilders in Niteroi, a harbor town near Rio de Janeiro’s coast. Analysts said the additional equipment could cost an extra $15 billion.


Petrobras has made a series of large offshore oil finds in the nearby Santos Basin, including a possible 8 billion barrel discovery at the Tupi field in November