Brazil oil industry to be boosted by BP deal

BP is hoping to boost the oil industry by speeding up production increases in Brazil if negotiations are successful on oil fields in the region.

The firm has been given approval from ANP, Brazil's energy regulator, to purchase assets from US-based Devon after an original deal was halted last year because of the Gulf of Mexico oil leak.

"We can't reveal the names for strategic reasons, but we have two or three farm-in negotiation processes underway. We didn't come to Brazil just to continue what Devon started, Brazil is strategic for us," said BP's Brazil division president Guillermo Quintero.

Currently, BP has an output of around 25,000 barrels of oil per day in Brazil, and this could rise to as much as 100,000 if a deal is reached with Devon.

Recently, BP said that it did not plan to pay compensation to firms who were prevented from deepwater drilling following last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill.