Rio de Janeiro – For the first time, Brazil has gained a prominent position as an oil producer in the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) report – the American strategic planning agency. Alongside Kazakhstan and Russia, the country stands out as one of the main promises for growth in oil production up to 2035.
The projection was presented yesterday (9) by the director general at the EIA, Richard Newell, on the last day of the 33rd edition of the IAEE’s Rio 2010 International Conference – the most important global energy and policy event -, promoted at the Hotel Intercontinental.
Alongside Kazakhstan and Russia, Brazil leads in the growth of production among the nations that are not members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), with production estimated at 6 million barrels of oil a day (bpd) in 2035 – daily expansion of 4 million barrels as against the current production volume. This volume is close, for example, to the volume that should be added to Saudi production (5 million barrels a day), but that Arab country’s production should rise from 10 million to around 15 million barrels of oil a day in the same period.
Apart from forecasting greater production of oil, Newell pointed out Brazilian sources of renewable energy, like ethanol and biodiesel, as items responsible for taking the country to a prominent level in the global energy scenery.
The Rio 2010 conference brought together, starting on Monday (7), over 500 specialists in the area of energy economics and policy from 49 countries to discuss theme The Future of Energy: Global Challenges, Diverse Solutions. There were 12 theme panels and 68 parallel sessions, with the presentation of 325 studies.
To the researcher of the Energy Economy Group at the Economy Institute at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) Helder Queiroz, the event took place at a moment in which the energy sector is evident, with cases generating attention worldwide, like the leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
According to the organisers, the objective of the conference is to advance in the area of energy and to present global proposals.
The event counted on the support of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuel Agency (ANP), the Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuel Institute (IBP) and the Brazilian Association of Studies in Energy (AB3E) –IAEE partners in the country.
*Translated by Mark Ament
