Petrobras Makes New Discovery

Oil Daily, The, July, 2003

Petrobras late Friday announced an oil discovery of unspecified size in Block BES-100, in the Submarina Basin offshore the state of Espirito Santo. The announcement came in just under the wire, as the block is one of several that must be returned to Brazil's regulatory agency if no discoveries are made by Aug. 6.

Well 1-ESS-123 struck oil in a band of 165 feet of sand, at a depth of about 12,500 feet. The well is being drilled to a target depth of 14,500 feet to see if there are additional deposits of oil between layers of rock. The discovery is at a water depth of 4,534 feet.

Petrobras must turn over to the National Petroleum Agency blocks over which it has exclusive exploration rights if no discoveries are made by the August deadline. The blocks would then...