Petrobras announces major oil find
Brazil’s state-controlled energy company Petrobras has confirmed it has discovered a new oil deposit which may contain as much as two billion barrels.
The find came during exploration work off the coast of Espirito Santo, close to three existing oil fields.
Petrobras’s drilling teams found evidence of a major oil reserve located more than 4,000 meters below the surface of the sea.
As the company already has production facilities in the area, it is confident of being able to exploit the find.
In August Petrobras announced plans to build five new oil refineries in Brazil by 2017, at a cost of more than £60 billion.
It is hoped the refinery building programme will help to give the country greater control of its natural resources and turn it from being a net importer to a net exporter of oil products.
The refineries are likely to stimulate demand in parts of the Brazilian property market, as they will lead to thousands of jobs being created both at the sites themselves and in support industries.
