Brazil Strikes Light Oil Off Sí£o Paulo Coast

Petrobras prospecting for oil off the coast of Santos, São Paulo, Brazil It's been one week now that Brazil's government owned oil corporation Petrobras announced the discovery of yet another field of light oil, in ultra deep waters of Santos Basin. The well known as Guará in the BM-S-9 block encountered oil with specific gravity of 28° API (American Petroleum Institute) in pre salt reservoirs, according to the official release.

The consortium operating BM-S-9 includes Petrobras (45% and operator), Britain's BG Group Plc. (30%) and Repsol-YPF (25%).

Block BM-S-9 is composed of two exploratory areas. Well 1-BRSA-491-SPS (1-SPS-50) was the first and largest drilled, informally called Carioca, which resulted in the discovery announced on September 5 2007. At the time Brazil's petroleum regulator said it could contain as many as 33 billion barrels of oil.

The new well, 1-BRSA-594-SPS (1-SPS-55), informally called Guará, is located in the smaller area of the block, at some 310 km (193 miles) off the coast of the State of São Paulo and at 2.141 meters (7024 feet) from the waterline. The drilling in the well continues in search of deeper objectives.

The discovery was proved by an oil sample collected via a cable test carried out in reservoirs situated at a depth of nearly 5,000 m (16,404 feet).

"After well completion, the Consortium will proceed with the required activities and make the investments that are needed to verify both the field's dimensions and the characteristics of the oil reservoirs." Following on the Concession Agreement the consortium will forward an Assessment Plan to Brazil's National Petroleum Agency.

However analysts consider that the Carioca reserves will not be properly tested until a well is drilled later this year in the neighboring BM-S-22.

"Together with our partners, we will now continue to advance our evaluation and development program, targeting initial production from the pre-salt Santos Basin during 2009," said Frank Chapman, BG chief executive.

Further assessment of the well will be carried out to determine the scale and characteristics of the reservoir. Once this is completed, an evaluation plan will be submitted to Brazil's National Petroleum Agency, BG said.

Brazil has turned into the key to BG's long-term growth following the Tupi find in 2006. Tupi was hailed as one of the world's largest oil strikes after official estimates placed the field's oil-on-place resources at anywhere between 12 billion and 30 billion boe, and recoverable reserves of 5 billion to 8 billion boe.

BG owns a 25% stake in Tupi, while Petrobras owns a 65% stake and is the project operator. Portugal's Galp Energia holds the remaining 10%. Tupi should be capable of producing up to one million barrels of oil equivalent a day once the field is fully developed. Guará is BG's fifth oil find in the Santos Basin since it began drilling the area in 2005.

Mercopress

Tags:

You May Also Like

The Red Bishop Goes to Heaven

Hélder Câmara’s Thoughts By Francesco Neves "Are you going to heaven?", a reporter asked ...

In Brazil, Big Farmers Are Small Producers

Brazil has serious economic and social problems that result from the inequality in land ...

Brazil Warns: Respect Gays or Else

Following the lead of São Paulo and Rio, the state of Santa Catarina has ...

Brazil Analysts Now Expect Country to Grow no More than 2.72% This Year

In Brazil, for the fourth time in a row, institutions and analysts in the ...

Brazilian in Charge of UN Disarmament Program

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named a career Brazilian diplomat to advance the United ...

US Needs to Learn What’s Fair Trade When Dealing with Brazil and the FTAA

This means that an alternative model must be found to end the standoff over ...

Now, President’s Son Is Latest Suspect in Brazil’s Corruption Scandal

There seems to be no end to the barrage of accusations against Brazilian President ...

Brazilian Newspaper Sues US Government Over “Return to Sender” Home Raids

New Jersey-based Brazilian newspaper Brazilian Voice and the Seton Hall Law School's Center for ...

Brazil Confirms Its Santos Find Has Up to 4 Billion Barrels of Light Oil and Gas

Brazil's state-controlled oil and gas multinational Petrobras has just announced that the completion of ...

June 1994

CONTENTS: Cover: Dreaming of the Cup (p. 7) Tribute: Senna’s very untimely last race ...