Lula calls oil near the Amazon River a passport to Brazil’s future after Petrobras strikes new find

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared on Monday that offshore oil drilling near the Amazon River could become a "passport to the country’s future." The President visited a Petrobras offshore drilling vessel following a new oil find announced last week near the mouth of the Amazon River. Lula stated that the discovery validates previous estimates that the Equatorial Margin could hold up to 10 billion barrels of oil, with an estimated value of $720 billion.

Although further research is needed to determine the commercial viability of extraction, Petrobras President Magda Chambriard said the new oil find is of high quality. Lula, who faces a tight re-election bid in October for a fourth term, also emphasized the importance of balancing the country's need for oil with Petrobras' interests and Amapa's economic reliance on local products like acai and tucunare.