|
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
|
 |
Expectations Rise over New Oil Find in Brazil, Petrobras Cautious15 Apr 08Petrobras has distanced itself from claims that a new field has been found that could be the most important discovery made anywhere in the world in the past 30 years.
Petrobras and Government Urge Caution over Discovery Announcement The Brazilian state oil company Petrobras's ordinary shares rose by 7.67% yesterday following reports in the local press that the director of the oil regulator the ANP, Haroldo Lima, had claimed that an oil discovery in Block BM-S-9 known as Carioca could be the third-largest oilfield in the world. Speaking at an oil event in Rio de Janeiro Lima cited sources from Petrobras when he said that the field could contain 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of reserves, making it potentially five times larger than the huge Tupi field in the Santos Basin announced last year. However, Petrobras has sought to distance itself from Lima's remarks and urged caution. In a statement released by the company, it said that "more conclusive data on the discovery's potential will only be known after the other phases involved in the assessment process have been completed, and they will be announced to the market in a timely manner." The consortium developing the block in the Santos Basin, Petrobras (the operator with a 45% stake), BG (30%), and Repsol-YPF (25%) announced a discovery last September at well 1-BRSA-491-SPS, but said at the time that more investments were needed to drill new wells. Petrobras said that it started drilling a second well in another exploratory area of the block, but has yet to reach the pre-salt layer. The Minister of Energy and Mines Edison Lobão also urged for “caution” until an official announcement was made, while the Planning Minister Paulo Bernardo and Brazil's Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) both criticised Lima's premature announcement. Seadrill Secures Contracts Worth US$4.1 bil. In other news Seadrill has announced that it has been awarded contracts by Petrobras worth US$4.1 billion for three deepwater drilling rigs. The West Eminence semi-submersible rig under construction in South Korea will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2008 and is scheduled to start operations in the first quarter of 2009. The West Taurus platform under construction in Singapore to be leased for six years is due to start operations in Brazil in the first quarter of 2009 as well. The third rig West Orion also under construction in Singapore is due to be delivered in 2010 and start operations the same year. Outlook and Implications Despite the lack of official confirmation and the need for further drilling before a reserves estimate can be publicly released, Lima's comments are bound to generate more expectations regarding the potential for further large offshore discoveries following the earlier Tupi and Jupiter finds (see Brazil: 22 January 2008: Petrobras Announces New Important Gas Discovery in Brazil and 9 November 2007: Petrobras Announces Large Discovery in Brazil). Initial recoverable oil and gas reserve estimates for the Tupi field were estimated at between 5 billion and 8 billion boe and Petrobras expressed hopes at the time of the announcement that the field might be part of a new exploratory frontier that stretches through the Espírito Santo, Campos, and Santos Basins. However, even if the Carioca area turns out to be another Tupi, the future development of discoveries in the pre-salt formation is likely to be both costly and technically challenging. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Find out more about Same-day Analysis |
 |
||
| Copyright ©2008 GLOBAL INSIGHT, Inc. | Site Map • Terms of Use • Privacy Policy | |