Petrobras finds light oil in a well south of the Santos Basin

Petrobras has discovered light oil in a well south of the Santos Basin off the Brazilian southeast coast. The well is located 280km off the coast of Sao Paulo state, about 15km away from the Tiro and Sidon area, in water depths of 400 metres. Petrobras announced the find on Tuesday [16th November], but did not give an estimate of how much oil the find might contain.

It made the discovery at the S-M-1352 block in the BM-S-41 concession in which it has an 80 per cent stake, after transferring a 20 per cent stake to its co-operative partner Karoon. The company said it was continuing to drill in the same well, with the possibility it could find more reserves at a greater depth.

Petrobras said the discovery proves the success of the exploratory strategy of searching for new sources of oil and gas in the southeast of Santos Basin, where a series of fields have been discovered already.

Source: Xinhua

For more news and expert analysis about Brazil, please see Brazil Focus.

Shell to sell offshore blocks in Brazil

Shell is to sell its stake in four Brazilian offshore blocks, BS-4, BM-S-8, BM-S-45 and BM-ES-28, and a field in the deep-water pre-salt region. The projects include investments by Petrobras, Chevron, Galp and Brazilian miner Vale. The company holds 20 per cent of the BM-S-8 block in the pre-salt region that includes the Bem-Te-Vi discovery.

"Shell reaffirms that it continues to see Brazil as a key area for exploration and production. This initiative has no impact on our vision for Shell's future growth and development in the country,” said a Shell spokesperson.

Shell's decision to sell off its assets comes shortly after Brazilian government sought congressional approval to revise the country's oil laws to increase state control of Brazil's new-found oil wealth.

Source: Reuters

For more news and expert analysis about Brazil, please see Brazil Focus.

Brazilian government to raise stake in Petrobras

According to an oil and gas analyst at SLW Corretora, Erick Scott Hood, the Brazilian government will raise its stake in the national energy giant, Petrobras, to as much as 50 per cent once the company completes its capitalisation process set to commence in September.

"The higher the price of the oil barrel to be used in the calculation for the oil-for-shares swap, the bigger will be the government participation. If they use a price of US$6/b or above, minority shareholders will face a hard time and will end up being diluted," said Hood.

Reports on the pre-salt oil areas to be used for the oil-for-shares swap between the Brazilian government and Petrobras have already been delivered. The final results are expected to be released by the end of the month.

"The government is planning to buy all shares minority shareholders leave available. The government will probably get to a 46 per cent stake from the 32 per cent it currently holds," added Hood.

Source: Business News Americas

For more news and expert analysis about Brazil, please see Brazil Focus.

Petrobras strikes oil in onshore well in Brejo Grande field, Brazil

Petrobras has discovered oil in a Brazilian onshore well, located in the Brejo Grande field. The find, in the 3BRSA849DPSE well, has undergone preliminary assessment, but it is yet to be determined whether the well can be exploited commercially.

The news of the discovery comes shortly after Petrobras' announcement of declining figures for its June and overall production in 2010. In June the average total oil, NGL and natural gas production, including international production totalled at 2,563 thousand boe/d, compared with 2,599 thousand boe/d in the month of May.

Oil and NGL production in Brazil reached 1,978 thousand barrels b/d, 2.1 per cent lower than May production of 2,020 thousand b/d. Petrobras has said that the difference in production output is due to the production-scheduled stoppage in P-43 unit, in the Barracuda field.

Source: Bloomberg BusinessWeek

To find out more about Petrobras please visit Petrobras' web site, which you can find here.

OGX discovers presence of hydrocarbons on block BM-C-40

OGX has made a new discovery while reviewing the column and net pay section of the Albian. The discovery was made in the same section of well 1-RJS-OGX-14, located on block BM-C-40, in the shallow waters of the southern part of Campos Basin, Brazil. OGX is the sole owner of BM-C-40, holding a 100 per cent stake in the block.

The oil producer found presence of hydrocarbons in the Albian section of the well, and has since carried out extensive research including drilling, logging, sampling and pre -tests in order to gain a better a understanding, and identification, of the discovery. The column and the net pay of discovery previously announced were reviewed from 60 to nearly 90 meters, and from 22 to about 35 meters respectively. Additionally, OGX have identified a new oil column of about 55 meters and net pay around 27 meters in carbonate reservoirs.

"The size of discoveries made this well reinforces the importance of our blocks located further north in the Campos Basin. This result is so good that additional drilling in this area became a priority," said OXG General Director, Paulo Mendonça.

To find out more about OGX please visit OGX's web site, which you can find here.

For more news and expert analysis about Brazil, please see Brazil Focus.

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