I see you are embellishing the story a bit. Brazil is not seeking to drill in the gulf. The proposed drilling is in the huge offshore discovery in Brazil's Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de Janeiro. It is not in the Gulf.
President Obama Finances Offshore Drilling in Brazil - WSJ.com
Wrong as wrong can be.
U.S. issues second post-spill drill permit in Gulf
Petrobras gets permit for U.S. deep waters
WASHINGTON, March 18 (UPI) -- Washington has given Petrobras America Inc. permission to start oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, a regulator said.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement gave Petrobras approval to use a floating production storage offloading facility at its Cascade-Chinook project in the Gulf of Mexico.
Read more:
Petrobras gets permit for U.S. deep waters - UPI.com
How long ago did the Bureau approve the Cascade-Chinook project?
April 21, 2008
MMS Press Release
Of course if the President were to block the project the "con"nies would still be whinning wouldn't they?
Actually, it was first approved in 2006.
http://www2.petrobras.com.br/publicacao/imagens/2885_chinook_e_cascade_final_ing.pdf
US regulators approve Petrobras plans to bring first FPSO to the Gulf of Mexico
______________________________________________________________________________
(Rio de Janeiro,
December 11, 2006). – PETRÓLEO BRASILEIRO S/A - PETROBRAS,
[Bovespa: PETR3/PETR4, NYSE: PBR/PBRA, Latibex: XPBR/XPBRA, BCBA: APBR/APBRA],
a Brazilian international energy company, announces that, its Conceptual Plan for the subsea
development of Cascade and Chinook fields
has received approval from the United States
Minerals Management Service (MMS). It is the first approval at this level of a plan that includes
the deployment of a Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility in the Gulf of
Mexico. MMS is an agency of the United States Government that manages the natural gas, oil
and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf (OCS).
The application of new Petrobras technologies will allow a fast tracked, development approach,
with
start of oil production scheduled for 2009. Petrobras has an extensive experience in the
use of FPSO since 1979, with fifteen units currently under operation offshore Brazil, and
another nine under construction to be deployed in that area. The proposed solution has a
proven track record of improving the capabilities of developing oil and gas reserves in deep and
ultra deep water environments.
Petrobras has proposed the use of six technologies which are new to the US Gulf of Mexico
including a disconnectable turret buoy allowing the FPSO to move offsite during hurricanes and
severe weather, crude transportation via shuttle tanker, free-standing hybrid risers, subsea
electric submersible pumps, torpedo pile vertical loaded anchors and polyester mooring
systems.
The plan consists of the installation and operation of a FPSO vessel in approximately 8,200 feet
of water. The plan provides for at least two subsea wells in Cascade and one subsea well in
Chinook, each drilled to an approximate depth of 27,000 feet and to be tied back to the FPSO.