Agência Brasil*
Rio de Janeiro – Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras informed that oil was discovered in deep water at the PM-S-21 block in the Santos Basin. The company is in charge of operating the block, with a 80% share in a consortium with Portuguese company Galp Energia.
The discovery was made in an exploratory well 280 kilometres away from the coast of the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo, with a water layer depth of 2,234 metres. According to Petrobras, the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) was already notified of the discovery, as the regulation demands.
The company informed that the discovery was proven by means of traces of oil and profile interpretation in reservoirs located at depths of approximately 1,000 metres. The company has not disclosed the potential or the initial production of the well.
This is the second discovery announced by Petrobras in the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin. Some weeks ago, the company had already announced the discovery of the Tupi mega field, which contains estimated reserves of 8 billion barrels of oil and gas equivalent.
The pre-salt layer is comprised of reservoir-rocks located underneath a large layer of salt, ranging from the coast of the state of Espírito Santo (SE) to Santa Catarina (S), with over 800 kilometres of length and up to 200 kilometres of width, at depths ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 metres under water, and 3,000 to 4,000 metres underground.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
