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Oil giant Petrobras is the company most likely to suffer an accident similar to the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico. So it is quietly preparing rescue teams to intervene within 24 hours at any of its rigs on the mainland and within eight hours on even the most remote offshore fields. It has a history of rig disasters - an explosion started a fire on the Enchova Central rig in 1984 and 42 lives were lost during its evacuation; 4 years later another explosion destroyed the same rig, but no one was killed. Petrobras' and Brasil's future depends on deep water drilling because of its much hyped Tupi Presalt fields. A massive oil gusher could also soil the nation's much revered beaches and affect tourism. The so-called Pre-salt fields contain 50 billion to 100bn barrels of proven reserves, which could make Brasil the world's fourth-largest oil producer by 2030.
The BP Gulf Gusher may also allow Petrobras to begin exploration of the Tupi fields sooner as scarce deepwater rigs become available because of Prez. Obama's Gulf of Mexico moratorium.
BBC VIDEO (1:42) REPORT HERE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10318852.stm
