Thaindian News

Rio de Janeiro, July 6 (IANS/EFE) Oil giant Petrobras said it found two new offshore oil and gas fields in a deepwater area in the Espirito Santo basin, some 115 km off the coast of southeast Brazil.

The reserves are at a depth of 1,900 meters in the Pe-de-moleque and Quindim wells, the state-controlled company said.

Other reserves were discovered a few weeks ago in the Brigadeiro well in the same block, where Petrobras holds a 65 percent stake, Shell has a 20 percent interest and Inpex Petroleo Santos has a 15 percent stake.

The wells are located 115 km from Vitoria, the capital of the southeastern state of Espirito Santo, Petrobras said, without specifying their production potential.

Located in a roughly 160,000 sq. km offshore area, the fields are estimated to contain roughly 80 billion barrels of oil equivalent and could potentially transform Brazil into a major crude exporter.

Accessing them, however, will be extremely costly and will pose an enormous technical challenge because they are located at depths of up to 7,000 meters.

–IANS/EFE
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