Petrobas Discovery Oil Santos Basin, Acquire Interest Offshore Benin and Restart Cherne

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Petrobras has acquired 50% interest in Block 4, located off the coast of Benin – a country situated on the west coast of Africa -, from Compagnie Béninoise des Hydrocarbures (CBH), a subsidiary of Lusitania Petroleum, which maintains the remaining 50%.

Petrobras aims to find Light oil, reproducing the discoveries that took place in the African continent, aligned with the company’s strategy to seek for opportunities in deep and ultra deep waters in the region were we already have operations in countries like Nigeria, Angola, Tanzania, Namibia and Libya.

The block covers an area of approximately 7.4 thousand square kilometers, at a water depth that varies from 200 to 3,000 meters, at an average distance of 60 Km from the coast.

CBH continues to be the operator of the asset; however, Petrobras has the right to take over the operation. The work commitment assumed by the company is to collect and process 2,250 Km2 of 3D seismic data still this year. Once the exploratory potential of the area is confirmed, the consortium will undertake to drill three wells.

Petrobras reported that the Regional Labor and Employment Superintendency of Rio de Janeiro (SRTE/RJ) authorized the restart of the Cherne 2 (PCH2) platform production on Feb. 18.

The platform will start producing in the upcoming hours, with partial production but in the same levels as before the shutdown.

The unit’s total capacity will be achieved following the scheduled maintenance stoppage which will begin in February.

The Cherne field is located in Campos Basin and the Cherne 2 fixed platform began operating in 1988 in waters 142 meters deep. The platform is situated 55 km off the coast.

Petrobras announced the discovery of a new accumulation of good quality oil (26º API) in the Santos Basin pre-salt reservoirs.

The discovery resulted from drilling well 4-BRSA-818 (4-RJS-668), named Macunaíma, at a water depth of 2,134 meters, located in the 1-RJS -617D (Parati) assessment area and 244 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro State.

The discovery was confirmed through oil logging via cable test in the reservoirs located at a depth of about 5,680 meters.

Petrobras is the operator of the consortium for the exploration of block BM-S-10 (65%), which is also composed of BG Group (25%) and Partex Brasil (10%).

The consortium will continue the activities and investments necessary to assess the deposits discovered in this area as per the Evaluation Plan approved by the National Petroleum Regulator (ANP), the completion of which is expected to take place in April of 2012.