Editorial: World Cup 2014 - The Energy Tournament?

"Football – bloody hell!" Sir Alex Ferguson (1941 - )

In two days time, the largest spectacle in the global sporting calendar will kick off at the Arena Corinthians in Brazil’s most populous city, Säo Paulo.

Over the course of the next month, 32 teams will battle it out across Brazil for the most sought after trophy in the wide world of sports, watched by a global audience in excess of 2 billion people.

Energy issues have dominated the build up to the tournament, from the Brazilian government requesting a reduction in electricity usage during matches to prevent blackouts, to the Estâdio Nacional Manê Garrincha’s photovoltaic panels producing more solar electricity than 11 of the competing nations.

Currently, the South American nation produces 2.63 million barrels of oil per day or three per cent of the world’s daily crude output. The world’s fifth largest country in terms of population, the discovery of oil in the pre-salt Campos and Santos basins gifted Brazil the 15^th largest proven oil reserves on Earth. Development of these deep water fields will be one of the largest infrastructure investments ever made.

And of late Brazil is well acquainted with massive capital expenditure. It is estimated that by kick off on Thursday, $14.5 billion will have been spent on the World Cup. A mere and two years from now, Rio will be staging the world’s second largest sporting extravaganza, the Olympic Games.

Around $2.3 billion has been allotted for improvements to hold that event, where the average Olympic overspend is clocked at 179 per cent. A total of $21 billion dollars for the World Cup and Olympics combined represents one fifth of the market capitalisation of Petrobras, the largest company in the Southern Hemisphere. Bloody hell, indeed!

Who do you think will win the World Cup in 2014? Take our survey and pick your winner here!

Tim Haðdar is the Editor In Chief at Oil & Gas IQ. Reach Him At Twitter Or OGIQ

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