São Paulo – Petrobras, Repsol and Statoil announced on Thursday (24) that a well located 195 kilometres away from Rio de Janeiro, between the cities of Campos and Macaé, has approximately 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (oil and gas). The three companies are now preparing an evaluation plan to present to the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuel Agency (ANP).
According to a Petrobras press statement, the recoverable volume is in well 1-REPF–12D–RJS, also known as Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf). It was drilled at a depth of approximately 2,800 metres and has a 500 metre column of hydrocarbons.
According to the Spanish Repsol, it is the “one of the largest finds in the world in 2012”. Of the total confirmed by the company, there are 700 million barrels of oil and three trillion cubic feet (545 million barrels of oil equivalent) of gas.
The exploration vice president of the Norwegian Statoil, Tim Dodson, stated that the updated volumes of the pre-salt layer confirm the high potential of Campos Basin and the depth at which the reserves are found represent an “exciting new challenges for the partnership [between the three companies] and the industry.”.
The oil field is approximately five times smaller than Lula field, also in Campos Basin, which has estimated reserves of six billion barrels of oil equivalent. Repsol Sinopec Brasil owns 35% of Pão de Açúcar field. Statoil has another 35% and Petrobras, 30%.
*Translated by Mark Ament
