by Guilherme Monsanto

16-09-08 Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg will meet with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to compare notes on oil sector regulatory systems as Brazil gets ready to reform its rules in the light of the pre-salt discoveries.
A Brazilian ministerial panel will present President Lula with alternative proposals for regulating pre-salt exploration and production.

Attention has focused on Norway's Petoro as a model of a national company charged with administering the state's direct interest in offshore licences.
"We hope we can help Brazil as it looks to create a fair regulatory regime for the future," Stoltenberg said at a Norway-Brazil Strategic Partnership event.

Brazilian Mines & Energy Minister Edison Lobao told at the Rio Oil & Gas conference of his personal preference for a new state-owned company.
"That is my personal view and I stick to it, but there is a whole group studying the subject. The minister's particular view will not necessarily prevail. My vote counts as one only," he said, urging private companies to keep their faith in Brazil.

"We are aware that we need the fertilising presence of the private sector, without which we would not have got where we are today," he said, adding that reforming rules did not mean breaking them.
"What we are doing now is the same that other countries did when they found large oil reserves," he said.