By RIA Novosti,
Rio De Janeiro : Brazil’s state-controlled oil company Petrobras announced it has discovered a huge oil deposit 250 kilometers (155 miles) off the coast of Sao Paulo state.
Petrobras said in a press release posted on its website that potential reserves of high commercial value light oil at the field in the Santos Basin were located at a depth of over 6,000 meters.
In the last six months, Petrobras has discovered three super-giant oil fields in Brazil’s offshore Santos Basin. The company also confirmed in January the discovery of a massive gas deposit off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, named Jupiter.
The Tupi discovery, on the shelf of the country’s south-eastern coast, announced in November, holds estimated reserves of around 8 billion barrels.
In mid-April Petrobras announced that the neighboring Carioca field could contain 33 billion barrels, but quickly retracted the claim, saying more geological exploration work was needed.
Petrobras is the third largest company in the Americas with a market value of $287.2 billion, surpassing American outfit Microsoft. The company’s shares have risen 110% over the past year.
Petrobras proven reserves are currently estimated at 15 billion barrels.