PORTO DE SUAPE, Brazil, May 9 (AFP) – Brazil on Friday launched the first of 10 domestically-built oil tankers it will use to boost its trade in ''black gold,'' and give new life to its shipbuilding industry.

The 274-meter (899-foot) long vessel, named the ''Jaoa Candido'' after a famous black Brazilian sailor, cost 120 million dollars and can transport a million barrels of crude – around half the daily output of Brazilian state oil company Petrobras.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva led the launching ceremony, telling the 3,700 shipyard workers here that the tanker symbolized ''a people's high affirmation.''

Brazil is sitting on 14 billion barrels of proven reserves of crude oil, and expects to more than triple that with recent offshore finds, propelling it into the ranks of major oil exporters.

In 2009, the country had daily oil output of 2.5 million barrels.

The tanker was one of 49 Brazil intends to build under a national development program for its shipyards that have gone into decline since the 1970s.