Posted on 11/12/2007 7:22:49 AM PST by Red Badger
Brazil is before the discovery of its biggest oil province, comparable to the most important oil provinces in the world. Petrobras announced a new frontier today, ranging through the Espírito Santo, Campos, and Santos Basins, in deeper horizons, and in the so-called pre-salt rocks. The volume that was discovered in the Tupi accumulation alone, which represents but a small part of the new frontier, may boost Brazil’s current 14-billion-barrel oil and gas reserves by more than 50%.
The announced oil province is located in a new exploratory frontier, where the pre-salt layer was reached for the first time. To date, Petrobras is the only company, with the operator status, with or without partnerships, that has drilled, tested, and evaluated pre-salt rocks.
Petrobras analyzed and tested the Tupi area. The formation tests analyses undertaken for the second well in the BM-S-11 block, located in the Santos basin, allows the recoverable volume of 28º API light oil to be estimated at 5 to 8 billion barrels of oil and natural gas. Petrobras is the area’s operator and holds 65% of the working interest, while British outfit BG holds 25%, and Portuguese company Petrogal - Galp Energia, 10%.
With $1-billion in investments made over the past couple of years, 15 wells were drilled and reached the pre-salt layers, eight of which duly tested and evaluated based on the best oil industry techniques. These wells produce high commercial value light oil (28o API) and a large amount of associated natural gas.
Petrobras developed new drilling projects to reach the pre-salt layers, at depths of 5,000 to 7,000 meters: more than 2,000 meters of salt have already been crossed. The first well took more than a year and cost $240 million to be drilled. Nowadays, Petrobras drills an equivalent well in 60 days for $60 million.
The data obtained from these wells, integrated with a major mapping effort, allowed the company to determine, with a high degree of accuracy, that the pre-salt rock formations range from an area extending from the State of Espírito Santo to the State of Santa Catarina. It is about 800 km long and 200 km wide, and is found in water depths between 2,000 to 3,000 meters.
The National Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency has already granted about 25% of the pre-salt rock areas to several oil companies in the form of exploratory blocks and production concessions.
The analysis and interpretation of the production data obtained from the eight tested wells, which have extremely high productivity, provided concrete elements that allow the company to guarantee Brazil is before the country’s biggest oil province, comparable to the world’s most important oil-bearing areas.
Petrobras has already discovered 25 billion barrels of oil
Since its creation, Petrobras has discovered 25 billion barrels of oil and natural gas in Brazil, of which 11 billion have already been lifted. The current Brazilian proved reserves are 14 billion barrels. Most of this oil and natural gas is located in the so-called “post-salt” geological layers, 80% of which in the Campos Basin, where heavy oil predominates.
As of 2003, Petrobras expanded its activities and sought new exploratory frontiers. As a result of its efforts, the company has appropriated 9 billion barrels in reserves in the past 5 years
New Oil Field discovery.............
“Petrobras” sounds like a bunch of Hawaiian guys drilling for oil.
It thought the Brazilians were the eco-model because they turned sugar cane into alcohol??? Hasn’t any one told then that they need to stop and go back to renewable sources of energy!?
There are some things ethanol just won’t do, like lubricate. Oil is a world wide commodity that can be traded for other things as needed. Sure, their cars can run on 100% ethanol, and it’s homegrown. But now they’ll be (IIRC already are) self sufficient in oil and natural gas and have plenty left over for export on the world market for hard goods or hard cash..............
I wouldn’t mind “exploring and drilling” in that area.............
bump
“Petrobras” sounds like a bunch of Hawaiian guys drilling for oil.
Close, but NO CIGAR...............
What good is oil if you intend to leave it in the ground, like we do? It’s as useless as an unloaded gun.
When everybody else’s runs out, we’ll still have ours...................
I knew that, sooner or later we would get it right. Start talking about oil and end up with girls.
I knew that, sooner or later we would get it right. Start talking about oil and end up with girls.
It's a natural connection.......
This is what the oil doomsayers can never seem to get through their heads for some bizarre reason: technology is clearly now allowing us to discover oil in places that we weren’t able to reach in previous decades, which is why the peak oilers should just be ignored.
Finding hugh quantities oil at such depths ought to further prove the inorganic origins of oil.
Brazil has long understood the way to energy independence was developing their petroleum resources. Ethanol has always been for them a secondary source of fuel.
When the world gets close to running out, technology will have shifted to other fuels. We will just fund those other countries to make the technology changes by importing their oil. We didn't stop using coal in ships because we run out of coal.
On the contrary...this proves how successful organic sources are and fully explains the accumulations in all Brazilian basins. On another note, the upcoming bid round WAS going to attract a huge amount of attention from the industry, but the fear is that Brazil is leaning toward a Chavez-type of nationalization. Let’s hope that’s not the case.
Some theorists contend it was there from the beginning..............
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