Petrobras, the Brazilian state-controlled oil and gas multinational, should commission from Brazilian shipyards 28 new drilling rigs that may be also used in subsalt layer exploration. The strategy for purchasing the equipment was passed by the Board of Executives of the company, according to information disclosed by the company.
The enterprise should generate more than 40,000 direct and indirect jobs. The 4 billion reais (US$ 2.1 billion) in funding should come from the Guarantee Fund for Naval Construction. The beginning of the units' commissioning process is scheduled to take place before the end of the month, with delivery due from 2013 to 2018.
Petrobras is looking into modalities of financing to make access to credit easier for the Brazilian suppliers that are going to manufacture the rigs.
Just last week Petrobras announced one more oil and natural gas discovery in the pre-salt layer in Santos Basin. According to the company press statement, the discovery was made at reservoir BM-S-9, after the drilling of a well informally named Abaré Oeste.
The area is explored by Petrobras, which operates the block with 45% participation in a consortium with BG Group (30%) and Repsol (25%).
According to the state-owned oil company, activities should proceed and necessary investment should be made in accordance with the Assessment Plan approved by the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuel Agency (ANP).
According to Petrobras, the reservoir is located in the evaluation area of Well 1-SPS-50 (Carioca), some 290 kilometers off the coast of the State of São Paulo at a depth of 2,163 meters from the water line. This is the fourth well drilled in block BM-S-9. All of them proved the existence of hydrocarbons.
The company added that Bloco BM-S-9 includes two areas for evaluation: the well denominated Guará and the one named Carioca.
"The discovery was proved by means of a sampling made from reservoirs located at a depth of approximately 5,150 meters. Further analyses are being made with the samples for a better characterization of the oil that was found," according to the company.
ABr