Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Tracking & Law Enforcement

Brazil: Alleged US Spying on Oil Company Will Not Affect Auction

RIO DE JANEIRO – Alleged US espionage targeting the Brazilian oil company Petrobras will not delay an oil field auction scheduled for next month, a government official was quoted as saying Tuesday.

RIO DE JANEIRO – Alleged US espionage targeting the Brazilian oil company Petrobras will not delay an oil field auction scheduled for next month, a government official was quoted as saying Tuesday.

The auction of rights to work the vast deepwater field called Libra is still scheduled for October 21, said Magda Chambriard of the National Oil Agency.

“I have just come from Asia, where we made a presentation to investors in China and Japan and there is great interest,” she told the newspaper O Globo. “This espionage news does not affect anything.”

She said the information that the National Oil Agency generates for the auction is public and all potential bidders have the same access, she said.

The Brazilian TV station Globo reported Sunday that Petrobras was among entities that the US National Security Agency had labeled as a “target”, although the extent and nature of the alleged snooping was not known.

Globo said the revelation was based on documents leaked by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden to Rio-based British journalist Glenn Greenwald.

The finding of the enormous Libra field marked the largest oil discovery in Brazilian history. It is believed to hold between eight and 12 billion barrels of recoverable oil, and covers an area of 1,500 square kilometers in ultra deep oil fields detected in 2007.

The auction will be for a 35-year non-renewable concession to work the field.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

By way of comparison, Brazil’s Marlim field, now the largest in operation with daily production of 600,000 barrels, has a recoverable volume of two billion barrels.

President Dilma Rousseff said Monday that the alleged NSA spying on Petrobras could be due to economic and strategic interests, and she warned she would act to protect her country.

Petrobras said it has sophisticated and regularly updated systems to shield its internal communications.

Brazil has said it expects an explanation of the alleged espionage from President Barack Obama.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Luiz Alberto Figueiredo is to meet Wednesday or Thursday in Washington with National Security Adviser Susan Rice to talk about the case.

Written By

AFP 2023

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Learn how the LOtL threat landscape has evolved, why traditional endpoint hardening methods fall short, and how adaptive, user-aware approaches can reduce risk.

Watch Now

Join the summit to explore critical threats to public cloud infrastructure, APIs, and identity systems through discussions, case studies, and insights into emerging technologies like AI and LLMs.

Register

People on the Move

Cloud security startup Upwind has appointed Rinki Sethi as Chief Security Officer.

SAP security firm SecurityBridge announced the appointment of Roman Schubiger as the company’s new CRO.

Cybersecurity training and simulations provider SimSpace has appointed Peter Lee as Chief Executive Officer.

More People On The Move

Expert Insights

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest cybersecurity news, threats, and expert insights. Unsubscribe at any time.