MOLI VIEW™

Now that Brazil is poised on the edge of joining the world's big oil powers, some energy analysts and environmentalists are wondering whether its new-found oil abundance will dampen support for renewable energy sources — particularly in the area of biofuels, in which the South American nation has led the way with its sugar cane-based ethanol. According to experts' estimates, the massive deep-sea deposit recently unearthed in the Tupi field by Petrobas, the state-controlled energy company, could harbor as much as eight billion barrels' worth of light oil and natural gas.

If true, the Tupi find would constitute the largest petrol find in the past seven years and would rank Brazil as 12th in the world in oil reserves. Yet some analysts are dubious of Brazil's potential to become a large-scale oil exporter in the near future, citing the difficulty inherent in extracting the deep oil deposit and the country's own voracious appetite for oil.

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