State-controlled oil multinational Petrobras confirmed this week the discovery of new natural gas reservoirs to the north of the Camarupim field, in the EspÀrito Santo Basin, off the southeastern coast of the country.
According to the company's press release, the drilling of a pioneer well (4-ESS-177) and an exploratory well (6-ESS-168) confirmed the Espírito Santo Basin's high potential for gas and light crude, which "is expected to result in increased recoverable volumes from the area."
The Camarupin field already accounts for a substantial part of the production plans under the Gas Production Anticipation Plan (Plangás).
The Pioneer well was drilled at a depth of 708 meters (2,323 feet) from the surface water, off the coast of Espírito Santo, and found 101-meter (331 feet) thick gas-saturated sandy reservoirs at a depth of 3,417 meters (11,211 feet).
The well is located in exploratory block BM-ES-5 operated by Petrobras (65%) and the Brazilian subsidiary of American outfit El Paso Corporation (35%).
In addition to the gas, the Pioneer well also detected light oil in shallower reservoirs, at a depth of 2,461 meters. This discovery also reinforces the major potential of prospects that have yet to be drilled in the same bloc
The emergence of a new reserve in the Espírito Santo field comes a month after a reserve of up to eight billion barrels was found nearby.
No figures have been put on the size of the latest discovery although Petrobras said it offered "high potential." The Brazilian leadership believes the country could in the near future become one of the world's top 10 oil producers.
Brazil currently has proven oil reserves of 14 billion barrels, more than half of which have been discovered in the past five years.
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