21-08-08 No private parties will participate in the discussion about whether Brazil will change its oil exploitation regulations for the pre-salt layer oil fields, an official of the state-owned oil giant Petrobras said.
Guilherme Estrella, exploitation and production director of Petrobras, said they have received the order from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Estrella said there are many interests involved in the issue, including the public and the private. He stressed that even though Petrobras has many private shareholders, it is still a government-controlled company.

He said all signed contracts will be respected, but he did not explain how to deal with Petrobras's associated companies that also hope to participate in the exploitation.
Estrella emphasized public priority in terms of the utilization of the recently discovered pre-salt layer oil fields. He reaffirmed Lula's position that the oil revenues should benefit the entire Brazilian people, not certain companies only.

Lula said public interests surpass any private interests.
In 2006, two pre-salt layer oil fields, namely Tupi and Iara, were discovered in Santos basin waters, with an estimated capacity of 5 bn to 8 bn barrels of oil equivalent in the Tupi mega-field.