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Apr-15-2008Carioca May Hold 10 Billion Barrels, Citigroup Says (Update2)(topic overview)
CONTENTS:
- The state-run oil company Petrobras 'may have discovered a huge petroleum field that could contain reserves as large as 33 billion barrels', Brazil's National Petroleum Agency President Haroldo Lima told reporters. (More...)
- A discovery five times Tupi, could hold 32bn barrels of in-place oil resources and would be one of the three largest fields found in history, but Petrobras has moved swiftly to clarify comments attributed to Mr Lima. (More...)
- Adding reserves from Brazil's ultradeep pre-salt area will transform the country's oil and gas reserves into the world's eighth largest, Gabrielli said on Nov. 8. (More...)
- Once the volumes of extracted oil slow to less than the high costs of maintaining the platforms then the well is capped leaving millions of barrels in the ground. (More...)
- "The ongoing exploratory activities include drilling new wells, long-duration formation tests, and new geological studies to prove the range of the discovery. (More...)
- The field is 45 percent controlled by Petrobras, while British Gas Plc holds 30 percent and Repsol controls 25 percent. (More...)
- Foreign refinement capacity, according to the executive, should total 330,000 barrels per day in 2011. (More...)
- San Ramon, California-based Chevron says it will cost more than $3 billion and almost a decade to bring the field into production. (More...)
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The state-run oil company Petrobras 'may have discovered a huge petroleum field that could contain reserves as large as 33 billion barrels', Brazil's National Petroleum Agency President Haroldo Lima told reporters. "It could be the biggest discovery in the last 30 years and the world's third-biggest currently active field," Lima added, cautioning that his information on the field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro and near Tupi field, whose immense reserves were announced in November, was unofficial. "But nothing is confirmed and unofficial," he stressed, adding that the new discovery -- known both as Carioca and Sugarloaf Mountain -- might contain 'reserves five times bigger than those of Tupi', if confirmed. Brazilian Planning Minister, Paulo Bernardo, however, declined to discuss the find, saying, "It's better to wait for official confirmation." [1] The head of Brazil's National Petroleum Agency, Haroldo Lima, said yesterday that the find in the Carioca exploration area could contain 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent, which would make it the largest discovery in three decades and the world's third-largest active field, Reuters news service reported from Rio de Janiero. Mr. Lima did not say whether his unofficial estimate was of recoverable reserves or in-place resource, and Petrobras, officially Petroleo Brasileiro SA, itself had no comment. "This is one of the most impressive oil finds globally in terms of scale," said David Riedel of New York-based Riedel Research Inc., who visited Petrobras late last year.[2] SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — A deep-water exploration area could contain as much as 33 billion barrels of oil, an amount that would nearly triple Brazil's reserves and make the offshore bloc the world's third-largest known oil reserve, a top energy official said Monday. National Petroleum Agency President Haroldo Lima cautioned that his information on the field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro is unofficial and needs to be confirmed — but his comments sent shares of state-run oil company Petrobras soaring in New York and Sao Paulo.[3] RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) — Brazil has discovered a new offshore oil field that could prove to be "the third biggest field in the world," the head of the country's National Oil Agency, Haroldo Lima, said Monday. The find, located off the southwest coast near another field called Tupi whose immense reserves were announced in November, is calculated to hold 33 billion barrels of oil, he said. "It could be the biggest discovery in the last 30 years," Lima told a conference, according to Brazilian media. "But nothing is confirmed," he cautioned, explaining his information was "unofficial." Petrobras issued a note after its shares rose 7.67 percent on the news, saying it was too early to say how much oil the field might contain.[4] Brasilia, Brazil, 15 April ''' The director general of Brazil'''s National Oil Agency (ANP), Haroldo Lima said Monday that a new oil strike in the Santos basin, located on the Brazilian continental platform, could contain reserves of some 33 billion barrels of oil. If preliminary information from the concession-holding companies in the area known as "P''o-de-A''''car" (Sugar Loaf) are confirmed, this will be the world'''s third largest oil field. '''It would be the biggest strike of the last thirty years, Lima said during the IV Seminar on Oil and Gas in Brazil, promoted by the Get''lio Vargas Foundation (FGV) in Rio de Janeiro.[5] Last night Brazil's National Petroleum Agency said that a field in the Santos Basin off the coast of Rio de Janeiro could contain 33 billion barrels of oil, which would make it five times the size of the giant Tupi oil field, discovered last November. Haroldo Lima, the director of the agency, and Petrobras said that more information was needed before they could confirm the discovery.[6] The Pao de Acuca field could reportedly contain as much as five times the oil reserves as a nearby field, Tupi, which reportedly contains about eight billion barrels. "If this were to be confirmed, it would be the biggest discovery ever made in the world," Haroldo Lima, head of Brazil's National Petroleum Agency, was quoted as saying. He was apparently waxing enthusiastic, as a spokesperson later clarified his remarks to say Mr. Lima was commenting on reports. Merrill Lynch analysts were still effusive in their praise. "We think this is part of a major transformation of Petrobras, which could lead it to becoming a much larger company in terms of production and reserves over the next 5-10 years," they wrote.[7]
If that turns out to be case, it will be the third largest find in the world to date. To put the numbers in context, recent figures suggest Nigeria has total reserves of 36 billion BOE and Venezuela has 80 billion BOE, meaning this find would easily propel Brazil into the realms of the world's top oil exporters. Such a strike dwarves the reserves of the company's Tupi field, which with 8 billion BOE was the biggest find anywhere in the last eight years. This new one could hold five times that it is being suggested. Brazil's National Petroleum Agency (NPA) general director Haroldo Lima told press in his homeland that this could be the biggest discovery of the last 30 years.[8]
Investors lifted the company's stock by more than 5% to R$82.97 ($49.1) in late trading on Monday after the head of the ANP, the national petroleum agency, Haroldo Lima told reporters that the latest discovery in the Santos Basin could contain up to "five times" as much oil as earlier discoveries. Petrobras is drilling a wildcat exploration well into the Carioca area of the Santos basin, south of Rio de Janeiro and Mr Lima thinks this will find the world's biggest oil field for 30 years. This will follow on from Petrobras' success last year in the same basin, where it found the huge Tupi oil and Jupiter gas-condensate fields.[9] Rio de Janeiro ' The director general at the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuel Agency (ANP), Haroldo Lima, announced today (14th) that the Brazilian oil company Petrobras discovered a "mega field" of oil and gas at the Santos Basin, in the southeastern Brazilian Coast. "It is the largest discovery in the oil market in the last 30 years, and this field, named Carioca, might be the third largest in the world," said Haroldo Lima.[10] Rio de Janeiro ' The international director at Brazilian oil company Petrobras, Jorge Zelada, would not comment on the impact of the news disclosed yesterday by the director general at the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuel Agency (ANP), Haroldo Lima, that the state-owned company would have discovered another huge oil field in the Santos Basin. Early today (15th), however, over breakfast with journalists at the company headquarters, he admitted that the company might re-evaluate its investment plans, should new viable reserves be confirmed.[11]
SAO PAULO, Brazil — Investors snapped up shares of Britain's BG Group and Spain's Repsol YPF on Tuesday after a top Brazilian energy official said a deep-water area they are helping explore could contain 33 billion barrels of oil. BG Group shares were up 6.1 per cent in London and Repsol stock soared 10.9 per cent in Madrid even though National Petroleum Agency President Haroldo Lima cautioned that his information on the field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro is unofficial and needs to be confirmed.[12] Petroleo Brasileiro's American depository shares were recently up $8.41 to $121.26 on composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, and hit a high of $125.29 during intraday trading. The discovery was made at its BM-S-9 block, known as Carioca, and may hold as much as 33 billion barrels of oil. Haroldo Lima, the director of the agency, cautioned that his information on the field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro was unofficial and still needed to be confirmed.[13] April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Petroleo Brasileiro SA's BM-S-9 block, known as Carioca, may hold 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent, up to five times the size of the company's Tupi oil field, Folha de S. Paulo reported, citing Haroldo Lima, director of Brazil's National Oil Agency.[14]
The head of Brazil's National Petroleum Agency, Haroldo Lima, said that, according to early information, the site could contain as much as 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent. 'It could be the biggest discovery in the last 30 years,' Lima told a conference, according to Brazilian media. 'But nothing is confirmed,' he cautioned, explaining his information was 'unofficial.' Petrobras stressed that work on the block, in the Santos basin, is still at the exploration phase.[15] Zelada wouldn't confirm or deny comments made Monday by Haroldo Lima, the head of Brazil's National Petroleum Agency, or ANP, that the new discovery could contain reserves of up to 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent, or BOE.[16] Earlier Monday, Haroldo Lima, the head of Brazil's National Petroleum Agency, or ANP, said that according to unconfirmed and unofficial reports he read, the new discovery could contain up to 33 billion barrels in oil equivalent, or BOE, an ANP press official said.[17]
The Pao de Acucar field could contain up to 5 times as much oil reserves as the nearby Tupi field, the Estado news agency said, citing Haroldo Lima, the head of Brazil's National Petroleum Agency. "If this were to be confirmed, it would be the biggest discovery ever made in the world," Lima is quoted as saying. This region has been a thorn in PBR's side for the past several months, as the stock has only closed 4 sessions above 120 ever.[18] Analysts said the magnitude of the find, if confirmed, could have far-reaching global energy ramifications. "This would lay to rest some of the peak oil pronouncements that we were out of oil, that we weren't going to find any more and that we have to change our way of life," said Roger Read, an energy analyst and managing director at New York-based investment bank Natixis Bleichroeder Inc., which buys and sells stock in offshore drilling contractor Seadrill, a Petrobras contractor. Lima told reporters that Petrobras "may have discovered a huge petroleum field that could contain reserves large as 33 billion barrels," amounting to the world's third-largest reserve, according to his spokesman, Luiz Fernando Manso. His agency later issued a statement saying the comments were based on a recent report in World Oil magazine and a report last November from Brazil's Agencia Estado news agency. Brazilian Planning Minister Paulo Bernardo declined later Monday to discuss the discovery, saying, "It's better to wait for official confirmation." Lima's agency regulates Brazil's oil industry, and his initial comments appeared to represent confirmation of what experts have long suspected: That extremely deep exploration areas hundreds of miles off the nation's coast may hold potentially huge reserves.[3]
The ANP said Monday night in a release that Lima's statements earlier in the day had been unofficial comments, and that the information was already public knowledge. It had been published in the February edition of the World Oil magazine, the ANP said. World Oil Magazine said on its Web site in February that if reports on the field prove correct, the new oil find "would be the third-largest field in the world." World Oil in its report referred to a report made in December on the Web site Next Energy News. That report said that "preliminary exploration" of the area has determined that the new field "is five times the size of the Tupi field," and that according to officials at Petrobras, the field "may produce up to 40 billion barrels of oil."[17]
Additional wells must be drilled to develop a "more conclusive'' estimate, Rio de Janeiro-based Petrobras said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. "For Galp, this news represents more evidence of the potential of the basin,'' Banco BPI SA analyst Bruno Almeida da Silva said today in an e-mailed research note. Aside from its 10 percent stake in the Tupi field, Galp has holdings in the BM-S-8, BM-S-21 and BM-S-24 blocks in Brazil. The company plans to invest about 5.3 billion euros in its refining, exploration and gas divisions through 2012. It's also aiming to increase oil production to 34,000 barrels a day by 2012 from 17,000 barrels a day at the end of last year.[19] Lisbon-based Galp has been targeting Angola and Brazil as it tries to double production by 2012 and expand beyond refining and selling fuel. It's a partner of Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brazileiro, or Petrobras, on projects such as the Tupi field, which may hold as much as 8 billion barrels of oil and natural gas.[19]
Analysts have estimated it could cost $50-billion (U.S.) to develop the Tupi field to full production. If confirmed, the Carioca field would vault Brazil into the Top 10 ranks of countries for oil reserves, ahead of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries such as Nigeria and Libya. It would also surpass the United States, which has 20 billion barrels of proved reserves. (Canada has the world's second-largest reserve base at 179 billion barrels, most of which is oil sands.) It will take decades for Brazil to develop Tupi and Carioca, but the country could eventually pump out as much as three million barrels of crude a day - higher than Venezuela's current output.[2] According to Lima, the Carioca field is located near the Tupi field discovered last year. He stated that the new field contains reserves estimated at 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent (petroleum and petroleum gases), whereas the Tupi field contains reserves estimated to be between 5 million and 8 billion barrels.[10] Haroldo Lima told reporters the find, known as Carioca, could contain 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent, five times the recent giant Tupi discovery. That would further boost Brazil's prospects as an important world oil province and the source of new crude in the Americas.[20] The Tupi find has already been hailed as having the potential to propel Brazil into the same league as OPEC nations, with estimated reserves of up to eight billion barrels of oil. The new discovery -- known in Brazil as the Carioca site, and abroad as the Pan de Azucar (or Sugarloaf) site -- "could have reserves five times bigger than those of Tupi," Lima said.[4]
If the report is confirmed as true, the oil in the Carioca exploration area would be five times larger than the recent giant Tupi discovery in Brazil, whose estimated reserves of 8 billion barrels were announced by Petroleo Brasileiro SA in November.[13] "You're talking about a reserve the size of total U.S. reserves," said Tim Evans, an analyst with Citigroup Inc. in New York. "It's a big, big number." If proven, the oil in the exploration area called both Carioca and Sugarloaf Mountain by analysts would also be five times larger than the Tupi oil field, whose estimated reserves of 8 billion barrels were announced by Petroleo Brasileiro SA in November.[3]
In December 2007, Brazil said it had found a new reserve in the Espirito Santo region a month after a reserve in the nearby Tupi oil field of up to eight billion barrels was found.[21]
NEW YORK -- U.S.-traded shares of Petrobras spiked in afternoon trading Monday after Brazil's National Petroleum Agency said the state-run oil company may have found 33 billion barrels of crude in an offshore reserve.[22] RIO DE JANEIRO, April 14 (Reuters) - Head of Brazil's National Petroleum Agency (ANP) said on Monday an offshore find by state oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research )(PBR.N: Quote, Profile, Research ) known as Carioca may contain 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent.[23] Chief of the Brazil'''s petroleum agency revealed the site, which is situated in a field in the Santos Basin, off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, could contain 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent.[24]
The head of Brazil's National Petroleum Agency said Petrobras has discovered a monster offshore field that could contain 33 billion barrels of oil. It would be the largest discovery in decades.[25] SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — The head of Brazil's National Petroleum Agency says a deep-water exploration area in the Atlantic Ocean could contain as much as 33 billion barrels of oil.[26] According to The Wall Street Journal, " the head of Brazil's National Petroleum Agency, Haroldo Lima, said the strike could be one of the world's biggest oil discoveries in decades, containing as much as 33 billion barrels in oil equivalent."[27] Haroldo Lima, director of Brazil's National Oil Agency, said in a seminar that an offshore block called BM-S-9, known as Carioca, may hold 33 billion barrels of oil.[28] Citigroup calculated the figure using a reserves estimate announced yesterday by Brazilian National Oil Agency Director Haroldo Lima, who said the Carioca field may hold 33 billion barrels of oil.[29]
Spain's Repsol owns the remaining 25 percent. Haroldo Lima, head of Brazil's National Oil Agency, on Monday announced that Carioca could potentially contain as much as 33 billion boe, with 'reserves five times bigger than those of Tupi'. He cautioned the estimates were 'unofficial'.[30] Haroldo Lima, head of Brazil's National Oil Agency, estimates that Carioca might be as much as five times the size of Tupi. Why the spate of discoveries off Brazil? Simple: With oil topping $100 a barrel, it's now more economical to prospect for hard-to-get supplies, whether deep in the ocean or in remote regions of dry land.[31]
Haroldo Lima, director of Brazil's National Oil Agency, disclosed the 33 billion-barrel estimate at a seminar in Rio de Janeiro and said no official information is available yet.[32] RIO DE JANEIRO, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's state-owned Petrobras, BG Group and Repsol have discovered what could be the world's third-largest oil and gas reserves, Haroldo Lima, director of the National Oil and Gas Agency (ANP), which regulates the sector in the country, said on Monday.[33]
Shares in Petrobras, which said studies on the find continued and would not comment on the figure, soared on the news. They were trading 5.7% higher at 83 reais in the late afternoon, after retreating somewhat from gains of more than 7%. "It could be the world's biggest discovery in the past 30 years, and the world's third-biggest currently active field," Lima, head of the government's oil and fuel market regulator, told reporters at an industry event in Rio de Janeiro. He would not say whether the preliminary reserve estimate was recoverable or in-place.[20] Shares in BG Group shot up this morning after Brazil's Petrobras discovered potentially the biggest oil field to be found in 30 years. BG, with 30 per cent stake in the field, saw its share price rise 5.16 per cent in early trading on the news.[6] Executives at Shell must be biting their nails in frustration. Reports overnight indicating that the Carioca oilfield offshore Brazil could contain as much as 33 billion barrels of oil -- making it the biggest discovery in 30 years -- may still be unconfirmed but they still sent shares in BG Group rocketing by over 5 per cent this morning.[34] LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Shares in UK natural gas producer BG Group Plc jumped nearly 6 percent as investors started betting on the potential size of the Carioca oil discovery in Brazil after the chief of the country's petroleum agency revealed the site could be holding around 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent, making it one of the world's largest oil finds.[30] Shares in UK gas producer BG Group Plc rose six percent in morning trading due to eager investors betting on the potential size of Carioca oil discovery in Brazil.[24]
A discovery five times Tupi, could hold 32bn barrels of in-place oil resources and would be one of the three largest fields found in history, but Petrobras has moved swiftly to clarify comments attributed to Mr Lima. "The consortium formed by Petrobras, BG Group and Repsol YPF is still following its exploratory program for Block BM-S-9, in the Santos Basin," the company said. [9] Petrobras said in November the Tupi field, also in the Santos basin, contains as much as 8 billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas. That amounts to three-quarters of the reserves of Kazakhstan's Kashagan field, the largest oil discovery in the last three decades.[29] In a seminar at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio, Lima stressed that the information has not been released "officially" yet. He added that, if confirmed, the field, with an estimated volume of 33 billion barrels, in the deep waters of the Santos Basin, in southeastern Brazil, would be the world's biggest oil and gas discovery of the past 30 years.[33] The oil field in the Santos Basin in southeastern Brazil appears to be the world's third-largest oil and gas reserve, bearing an estimated volume of 33 billion barrels, Lima said.[35]
Petrobras in November said Tupi could contain up to 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Later Monday, Brazil Energy Minister Edison Lobao was quoted as saying on the Estado newswire that he would neither confirm nor deny Lima's statements. He cautioned that any announcement on the extension of oil fields should only be made once the government is certain about the data.[17] Petrobras last year put Tupis recoverable reserves at between five billion and eight billion barrels of oil equivalent, most of it light oil. "Its subsalt, and we knew there were big expectations for the subsalt cluster in addition to Tupi," said Sophie Aldebert, associate director with Cambridge Energy Research in Brazil. "But if this is confirmed, its really huge."[36] Last year Petrobras put Tupi's recoverable reserves at between 5 billion and 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent, most of it light oil. Lima said his data came from Petrobras at an informal level.[20]
Haroldo Lima stated that according to unofficial data, the field known as Carioca, in the Santos Basin, could contain 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent.[11] The Carioca field in the Santos Basin off the coast of Sao Paulo state has estimated reserves of 33 billion barrels, NOA director Haroldo Lima said on Monday. "It could be the world's biggest discovery in the past 30 years," he said.[37]
April 15 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil's offshore Carioca oil field may hold about 10 billion barrels of recoverable reserves, Citigroup Inc. said, an amount that would be worth $1.13 trillion at today's crude prices.[29] April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Petroleo Brasileiro SA's offshore Carioca prospect may hold 33 billion barrels of oil, enough to supply every refinery in the U.S. for six years, making it the third-largest oil field ever discovered.[32]
Take Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro. This follows Brazil's discovery last December of a huge new oil source, the Tupi field, also thought to hold billions of barrels.[31] If it contains 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent, the discovery could be five times the recent giant Tupi discovery in Brazil, and it would further boost Brazils prospects as an important world oil province and the source of new crude in the Americas.[36]
If confirmed, the reserves would dwarf the company's Tupi oil field, which has an estimated 8 billion barrels of reserves and was the biggest strike anywhere in the world since 2000. [email protected] Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008.[15] The Brazilian oil company has recently announced two other major offshore discoveries, including the Tupi field, which it has said contains as much as eight billion barrels of oil equivalent.[2]
John Parry of John S. Herold Inc. in Norwalk, Conn., said Brazil has maintained a disciplined approach to Petrobras, which is considered among the world's best state-owned oil companies, with an excellent reputation for deep-water drilling and operational efficiency. Mr. Parry said development costs could be $6 to $7 a barrel of oil equivalent to develop the Tupi field, adding it's too soon to make similar estimates for Carioca. At $7 a barrel of oil equivalent, the development costs are "quite cheap in today's market," he said.[2] Petrobras stock rose 5.63 cent, closing at 82.97 reals ($49.18), after surging as high as 7.67 per cent in Sao Paulo. Lima said that while his information was from Petrobras, it was "unofficial." energy minister Edison Labao advised waiting for the official disclosure. If Lima's estimates are correct, however, Carioca would rank behind Saudi Arabia's Ghawar oil field and Kuwait's Burgan field in size.[37]
Petrobras also announced a blockbuster find of natural gas in February in an Atlantic Ocean field nicknamed Jupiter. "More conclusive data about the potential of the discovery will only be known after the conclusion of the other phases of the evaluation process, and the market will be informed at the opportune moment," Petrobras said in its statement to Brazilian securities regulators after Lima made the comments. While the potential Brazil find could add significant supplies to a global oil market many see as tight, it would likely take the better part of a decade before any of the oil finds its way to market. Evans said it's impossible to say whether more 33-billion-barrel oil fields exist under the sea.[3] RIO DE JANEIRO, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras denied Monday an earlier announcement of the discovery of a gigantic oil and gas field in southeastern Brazil.[35] The Carioca field may become Petrobras' biggest and it may "significantly'' increase the company's future production, said Eduardo Roche, a fund manager at Rio de Janeiro-based Modal Asset Management. "The potential for this field is gigantic,'' said Roche, who helps manage about 1 billion reais in bonds and stocks, including Petrobras shares, at Modal. "Petrobras is among a handful of companies that have been able to renew its reserves. Its capacity to increase future output is absurd.''[32]
If true, that would make the field one of the largest oil reserves in the world - and the largest find in decades. Haroldo Lima, the director of the agency, cautioned that his information on the field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro was unofficial and still needed to be confirmed.[36] RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil ''' A new field, Sugar Loaf in block BM-S-9 may contain up to 33 Bboe, Haroldo Lima, head of Brazil's National Petroleum Agency, said today.[38]
An offshore find by Brazil's state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, in the Atlantic ocean may be the largest oil discovery in the past 30 years, the head of the Brazil's National Petroleum Agency said on Monday.[13] Apr 15, 2008 9:50 AM An offshore find by Brazilian state oil company Petrobras in partnership with BG Group and Repsol-YPF may be the world's biggest discovery in 30 years, the head of the National Petroleum Agency said.[20]
Petrobras, Brazil's state-run oil company, has declined to comment, but oil analysts say it is the biggest discovery in the last 30 years.[39]
ANP added that the field could not be classified as an "exploitation field" because it has not been declared commercially viable. The first trace of the existence of oil and gas in the field, located in the pre-salt layer, was found in Aug. 2007, but members of the consortium have not released any prospects of its total volume so far. The new field is also close to block BMS-24, where Petrobras announced at the beginning of this year to have discovered Brazil's largest natural gas reserve, in the Jupiter field.[33] There was confusion as to the name of the new discovery. Estado, however, said he was referring to the area as the Pao de Acucar field - or Sugar Loaf in English. Both ANP and Petrobras press officials said the two names possibly mean the same oil reserve.[17] Petrobras shares jumped 6.23 percent to 83.50 reais on the news, reversing early losses. "It could be the worlds biggest discovery in the past 30 years, and the worlds third-biggest currently active field," Lima told reporters. He would not say whether the reserve estimate was recoverable or in-place.[36]
Some doubts remain but it is possible that the Carioca field could turn out to be five times the size of Tupi, itself a huge field found last November. Together, they have the potential to deliver a huge boost to Brazil's economy and its position in the world. For Shell, which has been battling to replace its own reserves despite huge investments in exploration and production in recent years, this latest discovery must be excruciating. It may put BG beyond its reach once and for all.[34] Haroldo Lima told reporters the find would be five times larger than last year's giant subsalt Tupi discovery. He would not say whether the reserve estimate was recoverable or in-place.[23]
It could be five times bigger than the size of the giant Tupi oil field, discovered last November. Official estimates claimed that its resources were anywhere from 12 billion to 30 billion.[24] Tupi, also in Brazil, was hailed as one of the world's largest oil discoveries after official estimates placed the field's oil-on-place resources of anywhere between 12 billion and 30 billion boe, and recoverable reserves of 5 billion to 8 billion boe.[30] Brazil, with an estimated 12 billion barrels of crude reserves, has South America's second-largest deposits of oil behind Venezuela, according to London-based BP Plc. Should the 33 billion-barrel estimate for Carioca be confirmed by additional drilling, Brazil's reserves would surpass those of Libya.[29] According to the U.S. Energy Department, Brazil's existing proven oil reserves total 11.8 billion barrels, while the U.S. holds 21.8 billion. Referring to the latest discovery, Citigroup analyst Tim Evans said: "It's a big, big number".[21] The third biggest field in the world may have been discovered in Brazil with immense reserves calculated at 33 billion barrels of oil.[39] Tupi is regarded as the largest oil and gas reserve ever found in Brazil, bearing an estimated volume of 5-8 billion barrels of light oil.[33]
Brazil has found a huge offshore oil field that may hold 33 billion barrels of oil and can prove to be the world's third largest bloc.[1] The 2006 discovery in the Gulf of Mexico by Chevron, Devon Energy and Norway's Statoil of an oil field containing as much as 15 billion barrels of crude is still another example.[31]
U.S. depositary receipts of Repsol SA, a partner in the field, surged as much as 21 percent to $44.85, the stock's largest daily gain. New York-based Hess Corp., which owns stakes in two nearby prospects, had its biggest intraday gain since 1981. "If all of those barrels are recoverable, that's a very significant find,'' said Dick Gibson, a geologist who's been advising oil and natural-gas producers since 1975. "That whole area off the coast of Brazil is becoming a new oil province.''[32] BG have 30 percent stake in the field, Petrobras (Brazil'''s state-owned oil group) owns 45 percent, with Spain'''s Repsol owning the last 25 percent.[24] BG owns a 30 percent stake in Carioca, also known as Pan de Azucar or Sugarloaf, while operator Petrobras, Brazil's state-owned oil group, holds 45 percent.[30]
The Carioca field, also known as BM-S-9, is located beneath a layer of salt in the deepwater Santos Basin off Brazil's southeastern coast, where Petrobras in November announced the discovery of the 8 billion-barrel Tupi field. "This would be a giant field under any circumstances,'' Merrill Lynch analysts Frank McGann and Shariff Koya said today in a note to clients.[32] Petrobras said it had informed the ANP of the discovery in the BM-S-9 exploration block in Brazil's Santos Basin in September, after it had found oil in one exploration well, but so far hadn't made a comment on the possible size of the block.[17] According to World Oil, the Pao de Acucar reserve lies in the BM-S-8 exploration block of Brazil's Santos Basin, which is adjacent to the BM-S-9 block.[17]
The company says exploration work on the BM-S-9 block in the Santos basin, part of the country's ultradeep pre-salt oil area, is still ongoing.[8]
Zelada confirmed that the new oil find is within the BM-S-9 exploration block. He added that Petrobras is calling the find Carioca.[16] The block is operated by Petrobras with a 50% stake, while Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) has a 40% stake and Portugal's Galp Energia (GALP.LB) 10%. World Oil Magazine said that it's likely the Pao de Acucar find is a large structure that extends into the Carioca find in the adjacent BM-S-9 block, and possibly also to the BM-S-21 and the BM-S-22 blocks.[40]
Brazil's state oil company, Petrobras, which controls 45 per cent of the field, said in a statement that the exact size of the find would be announced in the coming days after further studies done. Petrobras engineers said they could not yet say whether extraction would be profitable.[37] The block is 45 percent-controlled by Petrobras, Brazil's state-controlled oil company, Folha said.[14]
Potential new deposits in Tupi alone may raise Brazil's oil reserves from the world's 17th biggest to among the top 10, according to Petrobras.[29] When prices soared, Brazil got busy. This is happening around the world. As we reported in December, China last year made 10 major new energy discoveries in a bid to secure its energy future. India recently invited foreign companies to help it find more energy on its territory. Europe continues to fully exploit its oil reserves in the North Sea, without worrying about hurdles such as the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases or concerns about damage to the ocean ecosystem.[31] Brazil has announced the find of a huge oil reserve that will place it among the top nations for future oil production.[41] I wonder what we would find if we took similar drillings off the U.S. coast? "Thunder Horse" is a U.S. platform especially designed for deep water use. It got hit by a hurricane and tipped over, due to a design flaw and has been repaired and readied for action. Another hurricane hit it and there was no further damage. It's going to be put into production in the Gulf of Mexico shortly. Right now new oil reserve finds are good since they contribute to the whole oil availability issue.[41]
In the rough calculus of oil supply, the two pieces of news would seem to offset each other. They do not. While the decline in Russian production is with the global markets now, the Brazil discovery is in such deep water that it may not begin to produce at any meaningful level for several years.[42] '''Russian oil production, for years a vital source of new supplies for world markets is showing signs of a slump, adding to uncertainties that have helped push oil prices to record highs." Russian oil output fell for the first time in a decade in the first months of this year, according to the International Energy Agency.[43]
RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil appears to have made its second major offshore oil strike in recent years, the latest good news for a country that could be on its way to becoming an important oil exporter.[44] RIO DE JANEIRO: An oil field discovered off Brazil's Atlantic coast could prove to be the world's third largest, National Oil Agency (NOA) said.[37]
April 15 (Bloomberg) -- Galp Energia SGPS SA jumped in Lisbon trading after the Brazilian government said Petroleo Brasileiro SA's discovery in the Carioca prospect offshore Brazil could be the third-largest oil field ever drilled.[19] One of the more active among the day's big gainers on the Big Board was Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, whose ADRs gained 8% on reports of a new oil discovery in Brazil.[7] BRAZIL: Petrobras may have made one of the world's biggest oil finds. Early reports suggest the state-run oil firm could have a 33 billion BOE discovery on its hands.[8] The deep-sea find by state-run oil firm Petrobras could yield 33 billion barrels in reserves.[21] If the oil find is corroborated, it would represent the third largest reserve on the planet and the biggest find in decades. It would eclipse a similar Brazilian find last fall of as much as 8 billion barrels underneath an offshore salt mine.[22]
If the oil deposit extends into Hess's block, it could substantially boost the reserves of a company that now has the equivalent of 1.33 billion barrels of oil worldwide.[28]
Petrobras in November said Tupi could contain up to 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent, or BOE.[40] The state-controlled oil company estimated in November that the Tupi pre-salt field contains up to 8bn barrels of oil.[9] In February, BG had said Tupi is capable of producing around 500,000 to 1.0 million barrels of oil equivalent per day once the field is fully developed by around 2015.[30] Once the field is fully developed around 2015, BG said that Tupi has the capacity each day, to produce around 500.000 to 1.0 million barrels of oil equivalent.[24]
Industry experts say the Tupi and Jupiter fields alone could turn Brazil into a major oil and gas exporter and lead to it joining OPEC. Petrobras is renowned for its deep-water drilling ability, and is widely regarded as one of the best state-run oil companies in the world.[12] In January, Petrobras said that another gas and oil discovery known as Jupiter may be as big as Tupi.[29] Petrobras said "more conclusive data" about the potential of the discovery would only be known after further evaluation. A spokesperson for the National Petroleum Agency said the statement by its president Harold Lima about the find was based on unconfirmed sources.[21] The company said the location cited by Lima is made up of two exploration areas in one bloc where test wells are being drilled and geological studies are under way. "More conclusive data about the potential of the discovery will only be known after the conclusion of the other phases of the evaluation process, and the market will be informed at the opportune moment," Petrobras said in its statement to Brazilian securities regulators after Lima made the comments.[12]
Petrobras attempted to play down Lima's comments by saying that exploration work at Carioca continues and it was too early to say how much oil the field might contain.[30] A Petrobras spokesman had no comment on the reports. The company may put out a statement later in the day, he added. World Oil Magazine said on its Web site in February that if reports on the field prove correct, the Carioca and Sugar Loaf fields combined "would be the third-largest field in the world."[40]
The company discovered oil in the field last year, but according to Zelada, other wells must be drilled to determine the exact size of the reserve.[11] The salt layer of the second well drilled in block BMS-9 of the announced oil field has not even been reached yet, and the huge field, if it does exist, lies below the salt layer, the company said in a statement.[35]
Additional wells must be drilled to develop a "more conclusive'' estimate, the Rio de Janeiro-based company said in an e-mailed statement. Only Saudi Arabia's Ghawar and Kuwait's Burgan fields are bigger: Ghawar holds as much as 83 billion barrels of crude, while Burgan has up to 72 billion.[32] Offshore U.S. sources hold as much as 10 billion barrels of untapped oil, while the 2,000 acres of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge have as much as 16 billion -- enough to replace 30 years of Middle East imports.[31] Conventional wisdom is that the U.S. has just 30 billion barrels of oil left, enough for just 10 years of pumping at current rates.[31]
There is also no description on the NPA estimates of 33 billion barrels on whether that is oil in place or recoverable.[25]
Tupi was the largest discovery since Kazakhastan's Kashagan field, which has 12 billion barrels of recoverable reserves.[13] Credit Suisse oil analyst Emerson Leite in a report in November said the Carioca formation has similar characteristics to Tupi, including potential volumes. Leite in his report said Carioca could have reserves in the " range of 3 to 5 billion BOE, or 60% of Tupi, lower due to the deeper characteristics of the reservoir."[17] Nobel Corp (NE) announced a $4 billion contract with Petrobras to drill in the newly discovered Tupi field, which is next door to the Carioca field.[25] Petrobras' press office has not confirmed the discovery yet, but informed that the Sugar Loaf field is located in block BMS-9 of the Santos Basin, west of the BMS-11, where Tupi was discovered.[33]
SHARES in the Brazilian energy giant, Petrobras, surged on Monday on the back of speculation that it may have discovered one of the world's three largest oil fields.[9] Not all of the news is bad. Brazil says it has found one of the world's largest oil fields off of its coast.[42] According to reports, the company has made a "gigantic new discovery" in Brazil's ultradeep pre-salt oil area.[18] Hess Corp., the fifth-largest U.S. oil company, had its second-biggest gain since 1998 in New York trading after a Brazilian regulator commented on a discovery that could be the world's third-richest crude deposit.[28] Crude oil touched $113.93 a barrel in New York today, the highest since futures began trading in 1983. Oil and gasoline rose as investors purchased commodities because their returns outpaced stocks, bonds and other financial instruments.[29]
Oil analysts said the find, which could be the world's largest in decades if confirmed, could have global ramifications. "This would lay to rest some of the peak oil pronouncements that we were out of oil, that we weren't going to find any more and that we have to change our way of life," said Roger Read, an energy analyst and managing director at New York-based investment bank Natixis Bleichroeder Inc., which buys and sells stock in offshore drilling contractor Seadrill, a Petrobras contractor.[12] The deep-water discovery - coming after a similar find announced last year by Petrobras - suggests that the world still has major pools of oil to be found.[2] OTTAWA -- Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras SA has made what could prove to be the largest oil discovery in 30 years, deep under the Atlantic Ocean and one that would propel the already prospering country into the major league of oil exporters.[2]
Brazil's state-run Petrobras P-40 oil platform undergoes maintenance as it floats in the Guanabara Bay of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in this Wednesday, March 21, 2001 file photo.[3] Most of Petrobras crude comes from heavy-oil Campos basin fields, but recent subsalt discoveries could make Brazil a major producer of higher quality oil.[20] Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ) believes oil services groups like Wellstream Holdings Plc and Lamprell Plc could benefit from the further Brazilian discoveries. Wellstream, a manufacturer of flexible pipes, has a manufacturing plant in Niteroi in Brazil and counts Petrobras as one of its major clients.[30]
Brazil has discovered what could be the third biggest oil reserve in the world, according to the head of the country's National Petroleum Agency.[21] However Brazil'''s head of National Oil Agency, Haroldo Lima, cautioned that the estimates were, '''unofficial.'''[24]
Adding reserves from Brazil's ultradeep pre-salt area will transform the country's oil and gas reserves into the world's eighth largest, Gabrielli said on Nov. 8. [17] Brazil's offshore has become one of the hottest development regions in the global oil business, rivalling the offshore area of west Africa, with which it shares similar geology.[2] The two companies are partners in the exploration area with Brazil's Petrobras, whose shares rose sharply Monday but slipped Tuesday after the company said more studies are needed to determine the potential of the find.[12]
Galp climbed as much as 1.07 euros to 16.44 euros, the highest since March 6, and was trading at 15.95 euros as of 10:15 a.m. local time. The shares have declined 13 percent this year, giving the company a market value of 13.2 billion euros ($21 billion). "The blocks Galp has stakes in are very close to this one,'' said John dos Santos, a trader at Lisbon Brokers.[19] The rise in common and preferred shares added 9.2 percent to the company's market valuation, increasing it to 421.9 billion reais ($250.3 billion).[32]
While Circuit City managed an impressive 27% rally, boosting the closing price to $4.97 a share, highest since mid-February, Blockbuster dropped 10% as investors questioned the ability of the movie rental chain to take on a business where it has no expertise. "We are initially skeptical of the advantages that would accrue from such an agreement," writes Scot Ciccarelli, analyst at RBC Capital Markets. Blockbuster has offered $6 to $8 a share, or up to $1.35 billion, to try to buy Circuit City, but Mr. Ciccarelli recommends "aggressive" selling at any price higher than $7 a share for CC. "Due to the company's current financial situation, we believe it would be difficult to justify an $8 price point," he writes. As earnings for major financial firms dominate the landscape this week, investors have been busy in the options market making bets on (or hedging against) more weakness in the shares of the stocks. Put options (the option to sell a stock at a given date at a given price) on names such as U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo, which report Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, were very active Monday, outpacing activity in call options (the option to buy at a later date and given price), suggesting a bit of caution among investors.[7]
Right now there is a 7 billion dollar expansion underway in Port Arthur Texas to handle the high sulfur crude most of the new deep water wells produce. It is a Saudi/Shell joint owned existing refinery and when finished by 2010 it will produce 600,000 BPD. Conoco-Phillips is working on a multi-billion $$$expansion of their Roxana, IL refinery to handle the Canadian Oil sands product. This is supposed to increase product at that location to about 400,000 BPD. tgharris on April 15, 2008 at 10:45 AM[41] There is oil there as proved by the first well BUT it could be a decade and $10 billion dollars later before the first barrel arrives at the surface.[25]
Elsewhere in the emerging markets oil and gas sector, shares of Argentina's Petrobras Energia Participaciones SA rose 11 cents to $12.01 and shares of South Africa's Sasol Ltd. gained 52 cents to $53.47.[22] Petrobras, whose shares surged almost 6 percent on the announcement, said it was too early to talk about the amount of oil in the bloc and studies are continuing.[1]
Shares of Brazil's state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA ( PBR : sentiment, chart, options ) have hit a gusher today, soaring more than 6% to trade just shy of a fresh all-time high.[18]
By many measures, Russia is the world's second largest oil producer. That bad news may be offset by a huge oil discovery off the coast of Brazil.[27] The discovery will further boost Brazil's prospects as an important world oil province and the leading source of new crude in the Americas.[13]
If the reserves are confirmed, Brazil could jump into the top 10 oil countries by reserves, surpassing nations like Nigeria.[20] "Should new discoveries be confirmed in Brazil, then we are going to make an assessment of our portfolio. The company is not segmented, our business portfolio is evaluated as a whole," he declared. The company has been broadening its foreign investments, and the executive was questioned as to whether the confirmation of new reserves might turn the international growth strategy around, ascribing priority to domestic affairs.[11]
Just to have an idea, proven reserves in Brazil currently total 12 billion barrels.[11] Credit Suisse analyst Emerson Leite in January reportedly said that the fields of Pao de Acucar and Carioca in the pre-salt area combined could have up to 24 billion BOE in reserves.[40] Carioca (also known as Pan de Azucar or Sugarloaf), would become the world'''s largest oil find in 30 years.[24] I think THomas Gold'''s '''Deep Hot Biosphere''' theory is right, oil isn'''t a '''fossil fuel''' and limited, but rather being produced in the core of the earth and gradually bubbling up to crust. Which also explains alot of anamolies in which they find oil in parts of world were there aren'''t any fossils, or tap out Oil wells then go back years later and there is more oil there, etc. I have seen some interesting examples of this, but at this time it cannot be proven. It could be that the rock surrounding the wellbore was depleted by the well, and then over several years more remote oil in the same pool re-saturated the rock near the wellbore.[41] "The first well drilled showed oil, but we need to drill other wells," Zelada said. He said Petrobras is currently drilling a second well in the area, but it is too early to tell whether that well struck oil. "We are assessing what needs to be done to evaluate the find," he said.[16] Petrobras also said it has started drilling a second well in a different area of the BM-S-9 block in late March, but so far hasn't reached the necessary depth to know whether oil was there as well.[17]
Petrobras also has said previously it sees good prospects for major oil finds in the subsalt areas in the Campos and Espirito Santo basins north of Santos, but it is focusing mainly on Santos at the moment.[20] The Santos basin is seen as the main oil area in the world to have been identified in the last few years.[5]
If it isn't being naturally produced, and it truly is a finite resource, once we reached the actual, no BS 'we found it all' point, the oil that currently makes up our'strategic reserve' stockpile will provide us with from 10 to 12 years of oil, at rates of consumption that would likely decrease dramatically should gasoline eventually climb to $6, $7, or even $10/gallon in todays dollars.[41] While others around the world engage in a mad dash to find more oil reserves, the U.S. seems to think $111-a-barrel oil won't be affected by more supply. Aline from the recent film "There Will Be Blood" reminds us of the spirit this country's original oil entrepreneurs once had.[31] Why is the California coast drilled, but we can't touch Florida? Worse, the Chinese are slant drilling from Cuban waters to take the Florida coast oil reserves. For anybody who has seen "There Will Be Blood," you will understand this as "Drinking our milkshake."[41]
Colorado and Utah are estimated to contain as much as 1.2 trillion barrels of oil trapped in shale below ground. They're not counted as "recoverable" reserves because until recently they weren't economical. Today they are.[31] Just last week, a new report concluded that the Bakken oil basin, stretching from North Dakota and Montana into Canada, contains an estimated 4 billion-plus barrels of oil.[31]
If you look at a graphic of the distribution, it becomes obvious there's quite a few areas that we haven't looked at with an 'abiotic eye'. The indications also include evidence from other locations in the solar system - both the Jovian moons and particularly Titan at Saturn contain naturally occurring hydrocarbon compunds - in abundance. A friend of mine mentioned something which sounds almost trooferish on its face, but kinda makes sense if you think about it - that although there may not be an official, announced policy by the government or the oil companies, the true U.S. strategy is to use everyone else's oil first, and only seriously tap into our own when we're the only ones still producing any. He cited as his evidence the fact that most midwestern U.S. and Texas fields are currently capped (not dry, just not producing), the reluctance to open ANWAR, and the decidedly low-key response and downplay of the Bakken formation in North Dakota.[41]
There are likely to be more discoveries of oil deposits over the next several years. They cannot, however, offset falling production from many of the world's older fields and the inexorable rise in demand for crude.[42] The problem is so many of the big fields are maturing. Russia could see improvements in its tax situation which could increase production but costs seem to be rising everywhere it does call into question some of the efforts to reduce big oil subsidies in the U.S. and it should start ringing some alarm bells in regard to the need to cut demand as the price alone hasn't done enough.[27] The costs to extract deepwater oil make it only profitable for the first few years of production.[25]
The abiotic, or Russian model postulates that the formation of gas and oil deposits is a naturally occurring, ongoing process, through which existing, ongoing processes in the earth's crust are constantly transforming quasi-organic chemical compounds into oil and gas. While there currently is no data, or even estimates, of what this production level might be, practical application of the theory has revealed oil deposits in locations that should have been empty, following the biotic model.[41] Brazil became self-sufficient in oil production in 2006 but must import light crude oil for the refined products it needs. The country produces - and exports - mostly heavy crude oil, which has to be mixed with the light oil in refineries.[12] Until the day comes that everyone, and I mean everyone - finally agree that a complete survey of the planet is finished, and that every single oil deposit in existence has been identified, located, and mapped - well, then, if it turns out that oil is a constantly naturally produced item, we'd then be faced with determining what that level of production was, and adjust accordingly, which the free market will probably be very, very useful in doing.[41]
Deciding how much oil is in a particular field after having only drilled one well is laughable and the NPA head may need to find another job.[25] New technologies have opened up a new frontier and most of the earth is mainly well under the sea. That might not help us today but maybe that'''s why oil is trading cheaper further out.[43] Well I get plenty of emails saying it'''s all about peak oil and that the world is running out of oil. Well if that'''s true then why is December 2010 oil trading at such a discount to the front end of the market? If we are running out of oil and that is the reason oil is so high, then why wouldn'''t oil be much higher further out.[43]
With each passing year, technology improves to get more and more percentage of oil out, so many wells that have been capped can be re-entered, and using the newer technology, more oil produced. Or they think we'''re all going to bicycle to work.[41] Maybe, maybe not. I don't know much about this, but I ran across something similar on Planet Gore a while back and it piqued my interest. If oil is a product of fossils (animals), just how many animals did it take to make 1 barrel of oil? And aren't we lucky that all of these dead animals died in the same proximately to make these big pools of oil. This is the crap that I was taught in grade school oh so many years ago.[41]
Brazil is only energy independent due to an oil strike two years ago. This is an important strike, as it is quite large, but it is also in over a mile of water, and under a half mile of salt lid. It will be a challenge to get it out.[41] I expect in the next 20 years that we will be into shale oil and tar sand oil, and in fact investments are being made to anticipate that. It is going to be just too costly to rely on dictators and unstable regimes for a portion of our energy needs. It is going to be just too costly to rely on dictators and unstable regimes for a any substantial portion of our energy needs.[41]
ForgotI wanted to mention Shell's work with oil shale in the CO, WY, UT area. They are working on a process of heating the shale underground, then extracting the oil.no mining involved. BTW, all these capital expenditures to increase/improve our energy supply were brought to you by those of us working for "Evil Big Oil", lol.[41] Kazakhstan, Iraq, Iran, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela and Canada all have large amounts of undeveloped oil, so don't let the doom and gloomers persuade you.[41] When it comes to oil exploration we are the tortoise, while countries like China, Venezuela and Brazil are the hares passing us by like we are standing still. Except this isn't a fairy tale and it won't have a happy ending.[41] Tupi, the BM-S-9 block and adjacent exploration blocks lie in Brazil's promising but ultradeep pre-salt area.[17] "Following the normal exploration schedule, on March 22, 2008, the company started drilling the second well, the 1-BRSA-594-SPS (1-SPS-55), which is located in the smaller area of the block, but it has yet to reach the pre-salt layer.[8]
Jorge Zelada, director of international operations for Petroleo Brasileiro SA, told reporters Tuesday that a first well drilled found evidence of oil and that a second well is being drilled, but the company does not "have an evaluation yet."[12]
Petroleo Brasileiro, or Petrobras, jumped 5.6 percent in Sao Paolo trading yesterday, following Lima's comments on the Carioca field.[29] The Carioca field is 45 percent-owned by state-controlled Petrobras, while BG Group Plc holds 30 percent and Repsol YPF SA controls 25 percent.[29] The block is operated by Petrobras with a 45 percent stake, while BG Group holds 30 percent and Repsol-YPF SA has 25 percent.[8] The BM-S-9 block is operated by Petrobras with a 45% stake, while BG Group ( BG.LN) holds 30% and Repsol-YPF (REP) holds 25%.[17]
BG owns a 25 percent stake in Tupi, Petrobras, the project operator, holds a 65 percent stake and Galp Energia holds the last ten percent.[24]
BG, which has long been spoken of as a potential takeover candidate for Shell, holds a 30 per cent stake in the project. Its fortunes -- and its share price -- have been transformed over the past year as fresh reports have emerged about the scale of the discoveries now being made in deepwater off Rio de Janeiro.[34] Analysts said the estimate was probably still very preliminary, although it did not contrast with some geologists' forecasts made in the past. "It's a very relevant number, basically triples the reserves. It still seems a little premature to have a precise number while they are drilling a second well," said Felipe Cunha, an analyst with Brascan bank in Rio de Janeiro.[20] To determine even remotely reliable reserve estimates for a new field requires multiple wells in different locations to delineate the length/width of the field and then conduct flow tests from the different test wells.[25] The company made the Tupi recoverable reserve estimate based on tests from two wells.[20]
Evolution, in a note, said Tupi's value net to BG could be around 50 pence to 300 pence based on the oil-in-place estimates of 12 billion to 30 billion boe. 'If the Carioca super structure is indeed up to five times the size of Tupi then even on the most simplistic maths its value net to BG could be in the range of 250 pence to 1,500 pence,' it said, adding that even at the lower end of the range, Tupi and Carioca could be worth around 300 pence to BG. Evolution upgraded its stance on BG to 'buy' from 'add' with an increased target rice of 1,500 pence.[30] According to the ANP director, the field, temporarily named "Sugar Loaf," in reference to Rio's landmark, would be five times larger than Tupi, the giant field discovered in November 2007.[33]
The offshore oil field has been located off the southwest coast near another field called Tupi.[39] Petrobras said it will start producing 100,000 barrels a day at Tupi in 2011 and that the field later could reach a peak output of up to 1 million barrels a day.[17] Petrobras - also known as Petroleo Brasileiro SA - is being extremely cautious about the size of discovery at the Carioca field though.[8] "More conclusive data on the potential of the discovery will only be known after the completion of further phases in the evaluation process," Petrobras said in a statement to Brazil's stock exchange.[44] Petrobras said in a statement the second well had not yet reached the subsalt level and "more conclusive data on the potential of the block will be known after the evaluation process is finished."[20]
State-run oil firm Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, said Monday that it needed more data to evaluate the size of the latest discovery.[44] Petrobras said in a statement that more studies are needed to determine the potential of what could be the planet's largest oil find in decades.[3] I'm beginning to wonder what does it matter how much oil we find, or how much new technology can clean it up, when the Dems will always find ways to keep it inaccessible.[41] Environmental Capital collects and analyzes news in everything from oil to gas, from ethanol to wind power.[7] Geologists had long voiced the theory that Tupi could have an even bigger neighbor containing light oil or natural gas.[20] The agency is in charge of regulating the oil and gas sector in the country.[35] I don't envision our government or our oil companies lifting a finger or spending a dime on exploration, as long as Mr. Consumer continues to drive up to the pump and pony up for exponentially increasing gas rates without even a whisper of complaint, except for under one's breath.[41]
The country's state-owned oil company, Petróleo Brasileiro, said it had made a huge discovery off-shore.[27] Eni SpA, Italy's biggest oil company, and Portuguese holding company Amorim Energia BV each control a third of Galp.[19]
Once the volumes of extracted oil slow to less than the high costs of maintaining the platforms then the well is capped leaving millions of barrels in the ground. [25] Many estimate that just under 1 trillion barrels of oil remain to be pumped.[31]
I still think that given more time, we will find abiotic oil the theory that is correct.[41] Hess, which is a partner in efforts to find and tap subsea reserves adjacent to Carioca, closed 9.1 higher at $101.19 in New York.[32] Brazil's securities regulator said today that comments by the country's petroleum agency yesterday on the potential size of the Carioca field were "harmful'' for investors.[29] A spokesman for the head of the National Petroleum Agency would not provide more detail on the news, but did say it came from "non-official, non-confirmed sources."[22]
"The ongoing exploratory activities include drilling new wells, long-duration formation tests, and new geological studies to prove the range of the discovery. "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." [8] A big issue most folks don't realize is that a given well only produces 20-30% of the known oil.[41]
The true reserves of a field may not be known for years after production drilling commences.[25] Salt is unstable and tends to shift. This requires heavy duty reinforced well pipe to prevent the well from being lost by a shift that crushes the pipe and halting the flows. Actual production from this field could easily be 8-10 years in the future after many technological barriers are overcome.[25]
The company expects to start an extended production test at Tupi early next year and then crank up a 100,000 barrels per day pilot project there in late 2010 or early 2011.[20] Petrobras is the fourth-most valuable company in the Western Hemisphere, behind Exxon Mobil Corp., General Electric Co. and Microsoft Corp., according to Bloomberg data. "We think this is part of a major transformation of Petrobras, which could lead to it becoming a much larger company in terms of production and reserves over the next 5-10 years,'' the Merrill analysts wrote.[32] Bruno Positiga, a spokesman for Petrobras, said the company doesn't confirm the block's reserves.[14]
Mr. Riedel said Petrobras now has to worry that Brazil's politicians will look to the state-owned company to become a cash cow to finance anti-poverty programs, though development of the offshore projects will require massive amounts of capital investment.[2] Asked by reporters if Petrobras will have to consider cutting back on overseas investments in exploration and refining, Zelada said: "If more discoveries in Brazil are confirmed, Petrobras would have to evaluate where to apply resources."[12] BG has a 30% stake in the project and Repsol 25%. "It's subsalt, and we knew there were big expectations for the subsalt cluster in addition to Tupi. If this is confirmed, it's really huge," said Sophie Aldebert, associate director with Cambridge Energy Research Association in Brazil. "With that size, you'd have plenty of gains of scale that could easily offset the subsalt geological challenges," she added.[20] Carioca is to the west of Tupi, which is located in Brazil's Santos Basin, Folha said.[14] The Carioca area lies west of Tupi in the prolific Santos basin, off the coast of Sao Paulo state.[20]
Sugar Loaf is on a large structure that extends into the Carioca field in adjacent block and may also stretch into BM-S.21 and BM-S-22 blocks in Santos basin.[38] The field, also known as BM-S-9, is located beneath a layer of salt in the deepwater Santos basin off Brazil's southeastern coast.[29]
The reported discovery, known as Carioca, is a deepwater sub-salt field under 7,000 feet of water and 10,000 feet of sand and rock and 6,600 feet of salt.[25] Hess "is benefiting from the association" with the report on the Carioca discovery, said Eitan Bernstein, an analyst at Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. in Arlington, Va., who has an "outperform" rating on the company's shares and doesn't own any.[28]
Petrobras' American depository shares closed up 8.3 percent in New York, or US$9.33 (euro5.88) to US$122.18 (euro76.99).[3] Petrobras' American depository shares fell 1.2 per cent Tuesday morning in New York, or US$1.44 to US$120.74, after rising 8.3 per cent on Monday.[12]
The Bank of New York Emerging Markets ADR Index _ which includes shares of companies based in Brazil, Argentina, China and more _ gained 0.32 points to 349.86.[22]
The field is 45 percent controlled by Petrobras, while British Gas Plc holds 30 percent and Repsol controls 25 percent. [19] Petrobras also announced a blockbuster find of natural gas in February in an Atlantic Ocean field nicknamed Jupiter.[12]
Foreign refinement capacity, according to the executive, should total 330,000 barrels per day in 2011. To give an example of the growing importance of the foreign sector, Zelada claimed that in 2003 Petrobras invested US$1 billion abroad, but that the total forecasted for this year is US$4 billion. [11] Petrobras tested one well at Carioca last year and is still drilling another.[20]
San Ramon, California-based Chevron says it will cost more than $3 billion and almost a decade to bring the field into production. [32]
SOURCES
1. Press TV - Brazil finds huge offshore oilfield
2. reportonbusiness.com: Big find would give Brazil a boost
3. The Associated Press: Brazil Oil Field Could Be Huge Find
4. AFP: Brazil finds new oil field, possibly among biggest in the world
5. MacauHub
6. BG shares surge on Petrobras oil find off Brazil - Times Online
7. MarketBeat Blog - WSJ.com : Four at Four: Audio-Video Plug-Ins
8. Offshore Oil & Gas News: Petrobras find may be among world's biggest
9. Santos Basin find boosts Petrobras shares - Lloydslist.com
10. ANBA
11. ANBA
12. The Canadian Press: News on huge Brazil oil field sends lifts shares of BG Group, Repsol
13. Possible Major Oil Find in Brazil | IBT Commodities & Futures
14. Bloomberg.com: Latin America
15. Petrobras reports major find; official says could be one of worlds largest
16. Petrobras To Comment On New Brazil Oil Find After More Data
17. 2nd UPDATE: Petrobras: Need More Data For New Field Estimate
18. Schaeffer's Investment Research - Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog: Breaking Option News, Commentary, & In-depth Analysis
19. Bloomberg.com: Latin America
20. New joint oil find may be biggest yet in Brazil | BUSINESS | NEWS | tvnz.co.nz
21. BBC NEWS | Business | Brazil in 'major oil field' find
22. ADRs in Focus: Petrobras | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
23. Brazil ANP says Carioca find may have 33 bln boe | Markets | Markets News | Reuters
24. BG'''S big profit hope on oil find - Energy Digital US
25. Petrobras - A Belated April Fools Joke?
26. The Associated Press: Brazil Oil Field Could Be Huge Find
27. Huge Brazil oil discovery brings no relief from surging oil prices - BloggingStocks
28. Brazil oil find boosts shares
29. Bloomberg.com: Latin America
30. ROUNDUP BG shares jump on potential large Brazil oil find - Forbes.com
31. Drilling The Future
32. Bloomberg.com: Latin America
33. Brazil discovers World's 3rd-largest oil and gas reserves_English_Xinhua
34. Tempus: Shell shocked - Times Online
35. Brazil's Petrobras denies giant oil field discovery_English_Xinhua
36. Brazil official cites giant oil-field discovery - International Herald Tribune
37. World's third largest oil field discovered off Brazil- International Business-News-The Economic Times
38. New Brazil discovery may be giant - Offshore
39. Enormous oil field located in Brazil
40. UPDATE: Petrobras Shares Surge On Report Of Major Discovery
41. Hot Air » Blog Archive » Postponing Peak Oil
42. 24/7 Wall St.: As Oil Moves Above $112, More Crude From Brazil, Less From Russia
43. A matter of Faith
44. Free Preview - WSJ.com
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