REFILE-Brazil oil soars, Mexico, Venezuela slip in region

(Refiles to clarify name of university in paragraph five)

By Brian Ellsworth

CARACAS, April 8 (Reuters) - Brazil is emerging as a major player in Latin America's energy business after years of domination by oil-rich Venezuela and Mexico, where production is slipping despite prices at $100 per barrel.

Cooperation between state-run Petrobras and private partners has helped Brazil become self-sufficient in oil production and make huge oil and gas discoveries.

Meanwhile, Mexico's oil production is slipping due to a ban on private investment that has hamstrung state oil monopoly Pemex, and output at Venezuelan state company PDVSA is down after President Hugo Chavez's 2007 nationalization crusade.

The trend suggests that business savvy is becoming as important as massive crude reserves in ensuring the growth and profitability of national oil companies.

"Petrobras has a long-term strategy that lets it bring in new technology and capital through private investment," said Jorge Pinon, a research associate at the University of Miami.

"Pemex and PDVSA are more extensions of the state -- which is why they're in their current position."

Brazil's Petrobras BRYNPETRA last year made what could be one of the world's largest oil finds in 20 years, discovering up to 8 billion barrels in the Tupi field with the help of Britain's BG Group Plc (BG.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Portugal's GALP (GALP.LS: Quote, Profile, Research).