RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras seeks to tap a new basin off the northeastern coast, even as new oil discoveries crop up regularly in the prolific Santos Basin down south.
The Jequitinhonha Basin far up the coast from Santos is promising enough to move a drilling rig from Santos' large Jupiter gas find soon, said Petrobras' (PETR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research)(PBR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) exploration and production director Guilherme Estrella at the Reuters Global Energy Summit late on Monday.
"We always need to open new frontiers and the geological data in the BMJ-3 block looks very interesting. We have a great deal of hope there... The prospects are very good. We wouldn't be moving a rig from Jupiter for something small," he said.
Petrobras owns a 60 percent stake in the deep-water block in the Jequitinhonha Basin. Norway's StatoilHydro (STL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research) has a 40 percent stake.
Petrobras announced the Jupiter discovery in January, describing it as a major find of natural gas in the subsalt cluster. Jupiter lies just east of Tupi, a subsalt oil field where Petrobras last November estimated recoverable reserves at between 5 billion and 8 billion barrels.
If confirmed, Tupi could be one of the world's biggest oil finds in the past two decades and the biggest ever in deep waters. In the past year, Brazil has emerged as a major world oil province with some analysts putting its possible subsalt potential at 70 billion barrels or more.
The drill-ship now working on Jupiter will still deepen the discovering well to gather more information about the reservoir before its transfer to the BMJ-3 block in Jequitinhonha later in 2008, Estrella said.
Hopes for Jequitinhonha must be high indeed, because Petrobras is taking a rig from Santos where it has complained of a shortage of drilling equipment.
But next year, it expects to receive seven new deepwater rigs to further drill its nine Santos finds, including Jupiter. Another four rigs should come in 2010, Estrella said, while in 2012 Petrobras expects to get 12 recently-ordered drilling ships and semi-submersibles.
Petrobras does not expect to have enough new data available to make any new subsalt reserve estimates before next year, Estrella said.
In terms of subsalt production, plans are afoot to connect the first Brazilian subsalt well on the Jubarte field off the Espirito Santo state coast to the producing P-34 platform in October and to pump up to 10,000 barrels per day of light crude there.
In March, a long-term production test is to start on Tupi to produce 20,000 to 30,000 bpd, which will then develop into a 100,000 bpd pilot project. In 2010, Petrobras will restart the Capixaba platform, to be transferred from Golfinho to the Cachalote field, and connect a few subsalt wells to it, Estrella said.
As for the Golfinho light oil field, which remains with only one 100,000 bpd platform after pressure problems in the reservoir, the company expects that unit, now pumping at about a third of its capacity, to reach an output of 60,000-70,000 bpd when former Capixaba's wells are attached to it.
"That will take production to an acceptable level... Also, we expect the Jabuti field to start producing at the end of this year and that will make up for Golfinho in terms of light oil," he said.
Regarding last week's announcement of an important light oil find at the BMS-40 area in shallow waters in Santos basin, Estrella said this crude accumulation was yet to be deemed commercially viable, but the company was planning to move a producing drill rig from neighboring Coral field if necessary.
"The Coral is becoming depleted. We may use the rig for a long-term production test, or maybe we could even start a pilot project straight away," he said. Petrobras will either drill an extension well in the same location known as Tiro or spud what it believes may be another promising BMS-40 accumulation, known as Sidon.
The Jequitinhonha Basin far up the coast from Santos is promising enough to move a drilling rig from Santos' large Jupiter gas find soon, said Petrobras' (PETR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research)(PBR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) exploration and production director Guilherme Estrella at the Reuters Global Energy Summit late on Monday.
"We always need to open new frontiers and the geological data in the BMJ-3 block looks very interesting. We have a great deal of hope there... The prospects are very good. We wouldn't be moving a rig from Jupiter for something small," he said.
Petrobras owns a 60 percent stake in the deep-water block in the Jequitinhonha Basin. Norway's StatoilHydro (STL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research) has a 40 percent stake.
Petrobras announced the Jupiter discovery in January, describing it as a major find of natural gas in the subsalt cluster. Jupiter lies just east of Tupi, a subsalt oil field where Petrobras last November estimated recoverable reserves at between 5 billion and 8 billion barrels.
If confirmed, Tupi could be one of the world's biggest oil finds in the past two decades and the biggest ever in deep waters. In the past year, Brazil has emerged as a major world oil province with some analysts putting its possible subsalt potential at 70 billion barrels or more.
The drill-ship now working on Jupiter will still deepen the discovering well to gather more information about the reservoir before its transfer to the BMJ-3 block in Jequitinhonha later in 2008, Estrella said.
Hopes for Jequitinhonha must be high indeed, because Petrobras is taking a rig from Santos where it has complained of a shortage of drilling equipment.
But next year, it expects to receive seven new deepwater rigs to further drill its nine Santos finds, including Jupiter. Another four rigs should come in 2010, Estrella said, while in 2012 Petrobras expects to get 12 recently-ordered drilling ships and semi-submersibles.
Petrobras does not expect to have enough new data available to make any new subsalt reserve estimates before next year, Estrella said.
In terms of subsalt production, plans are afoot to connect the first Brazilian subsalt well on the Jubarte field off the Espirito Santo state coast to the producing P-34 platform in October and to pump up to 10,000 barrels per day of light crude there.
In March, a long-term production test is to start on Tupi to produce 20,000 to 30,000 bpd, which will then develop into a 100,000 bpd pilot project. In 2010, Petrobras will restart the Capixaba platform, to be transferred from Golfinho to the Cachalote field, and connect a few subsalt wells to it, Estrella said.
As for the Golfinho light oil field, which remains with only one 100,000 bpd platform after pressure problems in the reservoir, the company expects that unit, now pumping at about a third of its capacity, to reach an output of 60,000-70,000 bpd when former Capixaba's wells are attached to it.
"That will take production to an acceptable level... Also, we expect the Jabuti field to start producing at the end of this year and that will make up for Golfinho in terms of light oil," he said.
Regarding last week's announcement of an important light oil find at the BMS-40 area in shallow waters in Santos basin, Estrella said this crude accumulation was yet to be deemed commercially viable, but the company was planning to move a producing drill rig from neighboring Coral field if necessary.
"The Coral is becoming depleted. We may use the rig for a long-term production test, or maybe we could even start a pilot project straight away," he said. Petrobras will either drill an extension well in the same location known as Tiro or spud what it believes may be another promising BMS-40 accumulation, known as Sidon.
