Petrobras Discovers Another Large Oil Field in Southern Brazil

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) recently announced that it has discovered a mega-oil and natural-gas reserve in the country's southern Santos Basin. The reserve, named Carioca, is close to the other two large oil fields discovered in recent months. Director Haroldo Lima of Brazil's National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency said Carioca's reserves are estimated at 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent (petroleum and petroleum gases).

Carioca could harbor as much oil as the Tupi and Jupiter oil fields in Brazil. The Carioca oil and natural gas reserve was discovered in the BM-S-8 area, about 6,000 meters below sea level underneath a salt bed. Petrobras, Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (The Hague, Netherlands) and Portugal's Galp Energia worked together in the survey and exploration of the reserve area.

After the announcement, oil stocks on the San Paulo Stock Exchange saw consistent increases for days. Petrobras' market value went up by nearly $230 billion, making it the largest oil company in the open Brazilian market and in Latin America.

Upon the Carioca discovery, the Brazilian government called a stop to all oil-exploration biddings, since the risk for exploration companies considerably decreased. The Brazilian government is currently focusing on drafting new legislations to ensure Brazil receives more funding for its oil-related endeavors.

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