Second find: ExxonMobil makes discovery in Santos basin
ExxonMobil wins Brazil double
The Brazilian unit of US supermajor ExxonMobil notified Brazil's National Petroleum Agency (ANP) that it had made a second oil discovery at Block BM-S-22, in the country's offshore play.
In a routine filing with the ANP, ExxonMobil said that it had once again discovered traces of oil in a well drilled in the Santos basin's BM-S-22 Block.
In January, ExxonMobil said it had discovered oil in the same 1ESSO3SPS well.
ExxonMobil's local press office confirmed that discovery, which was dated 17 February but posted on the ANP's Web site late yesterday, was new but declined to give any further details, said a Dow Jones Newswire report.
It's unclear if the find was made after deeper drilling of the well.
ExxonMobil holds a 40% operating stake in the block. Hess also has a 40% share, while Brazilian state-run energy giant Petrobras holds the remaining 20% stake.
The BM-S-22 Block was the last to be drilled in a promising region that could hold deposits of up to 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent, government officials have said.
The block is part of a cluster of four blocks that contain a gigantic geographical structure, which industry experts and analysts believe could contain several discoveries the size of Petrobras' Tupi find.
The structure crosses the BM-S-8, BM-S-9, BM-S-21 and BM-S-22 blocks.
In April last year, the head of the ANP caused a stir when he said reserves in the area around the Carioca find in the BM-S-9 Block could be 33 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Petrobras officials, however, declined to confirm the estimate and said that further drilling was needed before any estimate on volumes could be made.
ANP officials were not available to comment about the delay in releasing details of the discovery when contacted by Dow Jones Newswires.