**Brazil has unveiled plans to bring more state control to its oil industry and take advantage of offshore reserves.**President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has proposed switching to a system which would see the government own a part of all oil produced.
Currently, companies bid to win the rights to explore for oil in blocks.
President Lula said the revamped rules, if approved by congress, would see a “new Independence Day” for the country and help tackle poverty.
It is thought Brazil’s reservoirs of oil could see it rival some Opec countries such as Venezuela within a decade.
However the location of the oil, about 500km (311 miles) off its south-eastern coast, means huge investment will be needed.
National oil firm Petrobras said it would hold at least a 30% stake in the fields - which were found in 2007 and are estimated to contain 50 billion barrels of oil.
There have been suggestions that the changes to rules will see foreign firms getting reduced access to Brazil’s oil industry.
Self-sufficient
President Lula will present his plan to congress later, saying he wants to use income from the oil to tackle poverty and propel Brazil to developed status.
“We don’t have the right to take the money we’re going to get with this oil and waste it,” he said in his weekly radio address.
“What we want… is to use this oil to make Brazil a wealthier country, to make it more developed.”
The country is currently self-sufficient in oil - producing enough to meet its consumption needs.
Environmentalists have expressed worries that Brazil - seen as a forward-thinking nation - will take a big leap backward to focus on crude oil.