Vi Wickam – Left-Handed Fiddling Online Marketing Strategist

You read that headline correctly. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration is financing oil exploration off Brazil. The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil’s state-owned oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore discovery in Brazil’s Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de Janeiro. Brazil’s planning minister confirmed that White House National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian officials to talk about the loan.

Am I the only one who senses the irony here?

Whole article from the Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203863204574346610120524166.html

Update from the Export-Import bank website:

http://www.exim.gov/brazil/pressrelease_082009.cfm

Synopsis: The offshore drilling loans were unanimously approved after Obama took office, (April 14, 2009) but while Bush appointees (3 republicans and 2 democrats) were still on the board – 2 of these appointees are still on the board. The Export-Import Bank is a nonpartisan United States federal government entity, whose charter is to improve US global competitiveness by loaning people money.

To clarify my stance, I have no problem with a US Federal Government entity loaning money to a Brazilian company to drill off their coast, especially if it means that they are more likely to use US goods and services in their project. I just sensed the dramatic irony that this happened while Obama was in office.