Oil exploration experts have predicted that Brazilian oil find – the Tupi deposit and possible offshore fields nearby – may cost up to $240 billion to exploit.

But if the prospects turn out to hold $6 trillion of petroleum, they’ll kick the emerging market into the premier league, making it one of the world’s ten largest oil producers.

“There are those who will tell you that oil is a cyclical business and a global fungible commodity,” says Christian DeHaemer in Taipan Daily.