Exporting oil is "an act of treason," reckons Heitor Manoel Pereira, president of the Association of Petrobras Engineers, or AEPET, with 3,923 members in the active work force.

"Brazil is no Saudi Arabia that can export as it wishes. This will reduce our possibility for development in coming years," Pereira said. According to specialists consulted by the association, oil prices will hit $100 a barrel in 2010, and continue to rise "astronomically" after that. Simultaneously, Brazil's oil reserves will decline rapidly, forcing the country to resume oil imports but at much higher prices, Pereira fears.

The Business