Loading ...News - Brazil’s Maranhao May Have Oil Deposits ‘Like Campos’
March 26 (Bloomberg) - Brazil’s Maranhao state may have offshore oil deposits similar in size to the Campos Basin, which produces 85 percent of the country’s oil, Maranhao Governor Jackson Lago said.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA and Devon Energy Corp. have found oil in deep waters in the Barreirinhas Basin, 160 kilometers (99 miles) off the coast of Sao Luis, the state’s capital, Lago said today in an interview in Rio de Janeiro. The Campos Basin has produced an average of 1.65 million barrels a day this year, Petrobras says on its Web site. The companies are still determining if the find is commercially viable, Lago said.
Maranhao state in northeast Brazil is luring more spending on oil refining, steelmaking and pulp as ports expand at Sao Luis, which is five days closer to Europe and the U.S. by ship than Brazilian ports farther south, Lago said. Petrobras, the state-controlled oil company, is building a $19.8 billion premium-products refinery 30 kilometers from Sao Luis, which may start exporting to Europe and North America in 2013, he said.
“There are indications of a major oil province there, probably like Campos,” Lago said. “The refinery in the future may be able to use oil from Barreirinhas.”
Devon, which operates an oil block off Sao Luis, reported the discovery of natural gas earlier this month to Brazil’s energy agency. Lago says the company has also found oil.
Source: Bloomberg.
Popularity: 10%
No comments yet.