Brazil Turns to China to Help Finance Oil Projects With Credit Markets Tight, President da Silva Hunts for Funding in Beijing, Offering His Hosts Secure Commodity Supplies |

Brazil Turns to China to Help Finance Oil Projects With Credit Markets Tight, President da Silva Hunts for Funding in Beijing, Offering His Hosts Secure Commodity Supplies

SÃO PAULO — Brazil’s oil industry is turning to China for cash in the latest sign of how Beijing’s clout is growing amid the global economic downturn.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was set to arrive in Beijing Monday to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is expected to unleash billions of dollars of credit to help Brazil exploit its massive oil reserves. Brazil will return the favor by guaranteeing oil shipments to Chinese companies.

The nations are being thrust together by the global financial crisis. Brazil’s state-controlled oil giant, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, wants to spend $174 billion over the next five years to elevate Brazil into the major leagues of oil-producing nations. With international capital markets on life support, China is among the few remaining sources of cash.

Petrobras, as the company is known, is turning to China at a time when China’s appetite for raw materials has lifted economies across commodity-rich Latin America, blunting the impact of the global downturn. In March, China passed the U.S. as Brazil’s biggest trade partner.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124259318084927919.html

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