São Paulo – OGX, the largest private oil and gas industry company in Brazil, announced today (16th) that it has discovered oil in a well at block BM-C-41, in shallow waters in the southern portion of the Campos Basin. According to the company, the estimated volume of recoverable oil in the reservoirs ranges from 400 million to 500 million barrels. OGX owns 100% of the bloc.
The well (OGX-2A) is located roughly 77 kilometres off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro. Drilling activities at the well began on the 22nd last month. "As we expected, we have identified new oil reserves in the OGX-2A well, thus confirming the area’s strong potential. The drilling is still underway, as there are other important and deeper objectives to be reached, in addition to those already announced,” said in a press release the general director of OGX, Paulo Mendonça.
OGX is part of Grupo EBX, an industrial conglomerate founded and headed by the businessman Eike Batista, who also owns enterprises in the natural resources and infrastructure sectors.
Big
OGX is the largest private company in the Brazilian oil and natural gas industry in terms of maritime exploration area. It owns concessions covering approximately 7,000 square kilometres (1.7 million acres), according to the exploration concession contracts signed after the ninth round of tenders of the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuel Agency (ANP).
Since its inception, in July 2007, the company has risen to a prominent position in the Brazilian oil and natural gas exploration and production industry by purchasing a diversified portfolio of blocks with high potential.
By means of a private share placement held in November 2007, OGX raised approximately US$ 1.3 billion, which enabled it to participate in the ANP tender. In this round, OGX acquired the rights for concessions to 21 exploration blocks in the basins of Santos (São Paulo) and Campos (Rio Janeiro), and also to areas in the states of Espírito Santo, Pará and Maranhão, totalling around 6,400 square kilometres.
With the objective of seeking more opportunities to grow, in March 2008 OGX expanded its portfolio by adding up another exploration block, by means of a farm-in contract (granting of rights for an undetermined period). Presently, the company has 6,800 square kilometres of maritime exploration area.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
