“I don’t think this will happen,” Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota said when asked if he was concerned a government formed by rebel forces in Libya would seek to punish Brazil economically for not backing their uprising.
“Because we have received information that contracts will be respected even if there is a change (in government),” he added, without specifying the source of the information.
An official at Libyan rebel oil firm AGOCO told Reuters a government led by the rebels could have some “political issues” with Russia, China and Brazil over those countries’ lack of support for the rebels’ fight against Muammar Qaddafi.
The conflict appears to have reached its endgame as the rebels battle around Qaddafi’s headquarters in Tripoli.
Western powers, which have mostly backed the disparate opposition to Qaddafi, are moving ahead with plans to support a new administration with which they hope to tap Libya’s oil wealth.
Among the Brazilian firms operating in Libya are oil giant Petrobras and infrastructure company Odebrecht.
Petrobras, which has been operating in Libya since 2005, operates an exploratory offshore block in the country.
A Petrobras spokeswoman said the company was not thinking of selling the block as part of a previously announced asset sale plan and was not concerned about the situation there.
Along with Russia and China, Brazil did not back strong sanctions against Qaddafi and has supported a negotiated end to the conflict.
Brazil was also among the countries that abstained in March from passing a UN Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force to impose a no-fly zone in Libya.
