MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Petrobras announces new light oil strike in Santos Basin

Brazil's government owned oil corporation Petrobras announced Friday the discovery of yet another field of light oil, in ultra deep waters of Santos Basin. The well known as Guara in the BM-S-9 block encountered oil with specific gravity of 28o API 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 off the coast of the State of São Paulo and at 2.141 metros 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. "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 is capable of producing up to one million barrels of oil equivalent a day once the field is fully developed. Guara is BG's fifth oil find in the Santos Basin since it began drilling the area in 2005.