RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil's state-owned oil giant Petrobras said it has discovered new light-oil deposits off the country's southeastern coast, local media reported Friday.
Petrobras said the new reserves, in the field temporarily known as Guara, were located 310 km off the coast and at a depth of 5,000 meters under water.
The area is exploited by a consortium jointly owned by Petrobras, Britain's BG Group and Spanish-Argentine Repsol-YPF.
Petrobras has announced several discoveries of oil and gas deposits in the pre-salt layers located below a 2,000-meter-thick layer of salt off the Brazilian coast in recent months, making the area an increasingly promising oil field.
Market analysts estimate reserves at the pre-salt layer at 56-70 billion barrels. If confirmed, Brazil will be become one of the top seven countries in terms of oil and gas reserves.
However, up to now, the Tupi field has been the only one with officially confirmed reserves, estimated at 5 billion to 8 billion barrels.
Following the announcement, the company's share price rose 2.36 percent at the Sao Paulo Stock Market (Bovespa) on Friday.
Petrobras said the new reserves, in the field temporarily known as Guara, were located 310 km off the coast and at a depth of 5,000 meters under water.
The area is exploited by a consortium jointly owned by Petrobras, Britain's BG Group and Spanish-Argentine Repsol-YPF.
Petrobras has announced several discoveries of oil and gas deposits in the pre-salt layers located below a 2,000-meter-thick layer of salt off the Brazilian coast in recent months, making the area an increasingly promising oil field.
Market analysts estimate reserves at the pre-salt layer at 56-70 billion barrels. If confirmed, Brazil will be become one of the top seven countries in terms of oil and gas reserves.
However, up to now, the Tupi field has been the only one with officially confirmed reserves, estimated at 5 billion to 8 billion barrels.
Following the announcement, the company's share price rose 2.36 percent at the Sao Paulo Stock Market (Bovespa) on Friday.
