Lula hails oil discovery off BrazilÕs Amazon

Brazilian President Luiz In‡cio Lula da Silva has hailed the discovery
of oil near the mouth of the Amazon river, saying it could be
Òa passport to the country's futureÓ 

Morpho exploration well: Oil discovery made
175km off coast. Size of field and commercial
extraction potential not yet clear

BRAZIL

Bras’lia
Fortaleza
Rio de Janeiro
S‹o Paulo
Salvador

Amap‡
State

ATLANTIC
OCEAN

Amazon
River

Amazon
Basin

800km
500 miles

Offshore oil basins

Brazilian
Equatorial
Margin (BEM)

Other basins

Decision by Luiz In‡cio Lula da Silva (above)
to allow exploratory drilling in BEM has been
heavily criticised by environmentalists, who
raised concerns that any potential oil spills
could devastate areaÕs ecosystem

Sources: ANP, BBC
Picture: Getty Images
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