HRT launches new E&P company

Brazilian oilfield consulting company HRT Petroleum said today that it had launched HRT Oil & Gas, an oil and natural gas exploration and production company.

The E&P unit will be controlled by holding company HRT Participacoes, funded with $275 million raised in a private placement in the US.

The operation was coordinated by Bank of Montreal, Dow Jones reported.

HRT Oil & Gas will hold operator stakes in 21 blocks in the Solimoes basin in Brazil's Amazonas state.

HRT Oil & Gas signed farm-in deals to buy a 51% stake in the blocks from Petra Energia and M&S Brasil, subject to approval from Brazil's National Petroleum Agency (ANP).

The blocks contain potential reserves of between 4 billion and 6 billion barrels of light oil and between 10 trillion and 20 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, HRT Oil & Gas boss Marcio Mello said in a news conference.

"The potential is enormous," Mello said. "Amazonas is going to be the largest producer of natural gas in Brazil."

Mello noted that the area is home to Brazil's largest producing field of light oil, the Urucu field operated by state-run Petrobras.

Urucu produces about 47,000 barrels of oil a day.

HRT Oil & Gas plans to start drilling by the middle of next year, with between four and six rigs on site by June or July.

Operations Director Antonio Agostini said negotiations for the rigs were already under way, with the first two drilling units expected in Brazil by May or June.