News

November 09, 2009

Petrobras In The Driving Seat As Brazil Offshore Opportunity Emerges

By Martin Clark

A decade ago oil companies dubbed West Africa the world’s hottest offshore exploration play, as Angola’s deepwater riches were unearthed. Today, that honour goes to Brazil.

The steady news flow from its prolific offshore sector has generated much industry hype of late, notably the spectacular drilling successes from the sub-salt areas.

The Tupi field alone in the Santos Basin, discovered in 2006 by state company Petrobras, represents one of the biggest oil finds in many years. According to one Tupi partner, Britain’s BG Group, the field could contain anything from 12 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) to more than 30 billion boe gross...