Brazil aims to exploit new oilfield from 2010-Lula

BERLIN, May 9 (Reuters) - Brazil aims to start pumping oil at a potentially giant new field from 2010 and wants to join OPEC and try to push down oil prices, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was quoted as saying on Friday.

The new deep-water, sub-salt Carioca field off the coast of Sao Paulo state contains "immense" oil reserves, Lula said in an interview with German weekly magazine Der Spiegel.

"We have the know-how needed to exploit them," the magazine quoted him as saying.

"We want to begin test drilling in March and start pumping oil from 2010," he added. "Brazil will then become a large oil exporter. We want to join OPEC and try to make oil cheaper."

The head of Brazil's National Petroleum Agency (ANP) last month cited data from state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research)(PBR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) which showed the Carioca field reserves at 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

If confirmed, it would be the largest find in the world in the past 30 years.

Britain's BG Group (BG.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Repsol-YPF (REP.MC: Quote, Profile, Research) of Spain are also involved in the project to exploit the field. (Reporting by Iain Rogers; editing by James Jukwey)