Brazil's energy chief suggests subsalt oil fields could hold 150 billion barrels

Date added: 14th November, 2008 at 13:26 (view all articles from November, 2008)

Categories: Natural Resources

The amount of oil in Brazil's offshore subsalt reserves could be as much as three times larger than initially reported, natural resources investors may be interested to hear.

Edison Labao, the country's energy minister, said estimates from the National Petroleum Agency projected that there will be between 50 billion and 150 billion barrels worth of oil in the deep sea fields.

Earlier reports had suggested that the range was between 50 and 70 billion barrels.

In addition to the oil, there is thought to be enough natural gas in the subsalt reserves to make Brazil completely self-sufficient in this area, Mr Labao said.

The country currently imports 31 million cubic metres of natural gas every day from Bolivia to satisfy 50 per cent of demand, suggesting that there is at least several billion cubic metres in the fields.

Mr Labao added that there will be "much left to export" once local demand has been met.

His comments were made on Thursday (November 13th) in New York, following a presentation given at the Council of the Americas.

As well as the oil predictions, Mr Labao revealed that proven oil reserves in the subsalt fields currently stand at 12 billion barrels following the drilling of 16 wells.

Well over 100 further drillings will need to be carried out to ascertain exactly how much oil there is.

Brazil looks set to become a natural resources giant over the next few years, not only becoming a major player in the oil and natural gas industries but also leading the way in ethanol production.

Oil prices dropped below $60 (£40.73) a barrel this week, but Brazil's ethanol remained highly competitive and will continue to even if oil dips as low as $50 a barrel based on current exchange rates with the US, Biogencia's Tarcilo Rodrigues told Dow Jones Newswires.

He predicted that the country will have exported 4.8 billion litres of ethanol by the end of 2008, a figure that looks likely to continue increasing over the coming years, with the world's ethanol market expected by Global Industry Analysts to grow to 104.8 billion litres by 2012.

Much of this growth will be driven by Asian countries such as China and India, with the latter being among Brazil's key trading partners.

Email this article to a friend

Related Articles

Increased production capacity 'makes Brazil top for oil investment'

The ability for a company to increase its level of production is one of the key things to look out for when deciding where to make an oil investment, an expert has suggested....

Date added: 13th November, 2008 at 09:03 (view all articles from November, 2008)

read more >

ADM announces sugar investment in Brazil

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a US-based food and agriculture conglomerate, has announced a new investment in Brazil's sugar and ethanol industry....

Date added: 5th November, 2008 at 09:17 (view all articles from November, 2008)

read more >

New oil agreement signed by Brazil

Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has announced that his country has signed a new deal to look for oil resources off the coast of Cuba....

Date added: 3rd November, 2008 at 09:48 (view all articles from November, 2008)

read more >