Major oil boost for Brazil

A huge offshore oil discovery could raise Brazil’s petroleum reserves by 40% and boost the country into the ranks of the world’s major exporters, officials said.

The government-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, said the new “ultra-deep” Tupi field could hold as much as eight billion barrels of recoverable light crude, sending Petrobras shares soaring and prompting predictions that Brazil could join the world’s “top 10” oil producers.