Five Campos Basin Presalt Discoveries Now on Production

by OGJ editors, OGJ, Houston, Apr 20, 2011
With the start of an extended well test (EWT) on the Brava presalt discovery well (OGJ Online, Apr. 19, 2011), Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) now has five presalt discoveries on production in the Campos basin off Brazil.

Production started from Jubarte during September 2008, Baleia Franca during July 2010, Carimbe EWT in the Caratinga area during December 2010, Tracaja EWT in the Marlim Leste area during February (OGJ, Mar. 7, 2011, Newsletter), and Brava EWT in the Marlim area during April. [Read more]

(Petrobras Chief Executive José Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo has been named by Energy Intelligence as its 2011 Petroleum Executive of the Year. Under Gabrielli’s leadership, Petrobras made discoveries expected to more than double its oil reserves and production in the years to come. The company has established itself as a leader in deepwater exploration and production technology with among the highest safety and efficiency standards in the business---please see my post "Brazil as a Role Model," here. Petrobras with a market capitalization of $229 billion, ranked at No. 3 in the PFC Energy 50 Ranking of World's Top Energy Companies, Jan 2011 reflecting 2010 Rank, after ExxonMobil and PetroChina---please see my post here. Also, Petrobras retained its spot as the No. 15, in the 2011 Petroleum Intelligence Weekly's/PIW's ranking for 2009---please see my blog stand-alone page "Companies" > Petrobras. In a speech at Georgetown University in Washington, March 30th, President Obama said, "And today, I want to announce a new goal, one that is reasonable, one that is achievable, and one that is necessary. When I was elected to this office, America imported 11 million barrels of oil a day. By a little more than a decade from now, we will have cut that by one-third. That is something that we can achieve. We can cut our oil dependence -- we can cut our oil dependence by a third. I set this goal knowing that we’re still going to have to import some oil. It will remain an important part of our energy portfolio for quite some time, until we’ve gotten alternative energy strategies fully in force. And when it comes to the oil we import from other nations, obviously we’ve got to look at neighbors like Canada and Mexico that are stable and steady and reliable sources. We also have to look at other countries like Brazil. Part of the reason I went down there is to talk about energy with the Brazilians. They recently discovered significant new oil reserves, and we can share American technology and know-how with them as they develop these resources [emphasis mine]."---please watch President Obama's speech, here and see my posts here and here. For the U.S. crude oil imports from Top 15 countries in 2010, please see here. Brazil was the eighth-largest supplier of crude oil to the United States in December 2010. -- D.R.)