Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency (ANP) said the country’s offshore Libra subsalt oil discovery could hold as much as 15 billion bbl of oil—a figure 2.4 billion bbl [sic] greater than the country’s existing reserves [please see remarks below -- D.R.].
“The volume of recoverable oil belonging to the nation could vary from 3.7-15 billion bbl, with the most likely estimate being 7.9 billion bbl," ANP said, citing a study carried out by certification firm Gaffney, Cline & Associates.
"It's important to stress that the Libra prospect alone could hold recoverable oil volumes that exceed Brazil's current proven reserves,” ANP’s statement said. According to OGJ figures, Brazil had 12.6 billion bbl of proved oil reserves in 2009 [as of Jan 1, 2009 and please see the Jan 1, 2010 figure below -- D.R.], second-largest in South America after Venezuela.
ANP further said the well currently being drilled in Libra has reached a depth of 5,410 m [17,749 feet], of which 22 m is in the presalt layer. According to ANP, the well is eventually expected to reach a total depth of 6,500 m [21,325 feet] before it is completed. More
(The Libra exploratory well known as 2-ANP-2A-RJS is located in the offshore Santos Basin-see map below, some 183 kilometers (114 miles) from the coast of Rio de Janeiro. If the 15 billion barrel figure were confirmed it would be the biggest oil field discovered in the Americas since 1976, when Mexico found the giant Cantarell field in the Gulf of Mexico. A deposit of 15 billion barrels would also be almost twice the size of state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s nearby Tupi field. According to OGJ, Brazil contained an estimated 12.8 billion barrels of proven oil reserves as of January 1, 2010. -- D.R.)
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