The recent discovery of two massive Brazilian oil fields may end the US’s reliance on Middle East crude.

According to Bloomberg:

Saudi Arabia’s influence as the biggest oil exporter would wane if the fields are as big as advertised, and China and India would become dominant buyers of Persian Gulf oil, said Peter Zeihan, vice president of analysis at Strategic Forecasting in Austin, Texas.

“The only certainty that comes with the discovery is that the oil, no matter how much there is, will be very hard to reach,” says Jason Simpkins in Money Morning. The field is 170 miles offshore, more than 6,000 feet under the surface of the water trapped beneath a shelf of salt 500 miles long and 125 miles wide.

“A decade ago, gaining access to such a field would have been a pipe dream (no pun intended). Just like Khurais, extraction will be a very costly process, even with today’s technology.

“Petrobas will have to ante up quite a bit of cash to expand its use of drilling rigs, which are in short supply. Right now, there are only 40 rigs on the planet capable of drilling into massive deep-sea salt deposits.”