The director of the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), Haroldo Lima, denied, on Tuesday (15), that he had announced a massive oil field discovery in the Santos Basin, located in southeastern Brazil, unlike what was said by the press. He claimed that he was just mentioning information published in February by a North American specialized magazine.

- I never made any announcement. I did not use that word [announcement] in any time - he said, during a hearing at the Committee of Economic Subjects (CAE).

It is said that Haroldo Lima mentioned, in an interview on Monday (14), the discovery of a massive oil and gas field at Santos Basin, with reserves containing 33 billion barrels of oil, about five times the size of the Tupi oil field, discovered recently. It would be one of the largest known oil reserves of the planet. Petrobras, however, did not confirm the reserve’s existence.

The comments of the ANP president on the subject were received in different ways by the members of CAE. Among the critics was senator Francisco Dornelles (PP-RJ), who understands that Haroldo Lima's statements were "dangerous." The parliamentarian read passages of an article published by O Globo, saying that the episode "interfered in stock markets, generating speculation", causing the stocks of Petrobras to rise during the whole day (13).

Other senators, however, considered the explanations given by Haroldo Lima “satisfactory”. In Renato Casagrande's (PSB-ES) opinion, the repercussion of the interview was stronger than what was really said." Senator Marcelo Crivella (PRB-RJ) also defended the speaker, saying that the information  presented by him was already widely reported by the American press.