Brazil's national energy company Petrobras expects to announce by yearend the commercial viability of two fields in the Campos basin that could add 1.5 Bboe to the company's 12.6 Bboe reserves.

The fields, known as 1-ESS-121 and 1-ESS-122, are located close to the Parque das Baleias region in the Campos basin that includes high productivity fields such as Jubarte, Cachalote, and Baleia Franca with estimated reserves of 1B boe, of which 800 MMboe are proven reserves, the company said.

The exact volume that could be incorporated into proven reserves depends on the development of the project, the company said. Petrobras announced finds in the 1-ESS-119, 1-ESS-121, 1-ESS-122, and 1-ESS-125 fields in June 2003 with total estimated reserves of 1.13 Bboe.

The fields are located offshore Espírito Santo state at depths of 1,500 m.

If reserves from Jubarte and Cachalote are included, Parque das Baleia has potential reserves between 2.1 Bboe and 2.5 Bboe. However, the Campos basin oil is mostly heavy density oil, which is more expensive to process than light crude.

Of Petrobras' total 12.6 Bboe reserves in Brazil, 62% is heavy oil, 22% is light oil, and 16% is natural gas.

Campos is Brazil's most productive basin accounting for about 85% of the Petrobras' total 1.5 MMb/d oil output in the country.

10-05-04