BG Group confirms light oil field potential off Brazil
BG Group, the gas exploration firm, completed drilling at its Tupi field offshore from Brazil and estimated that recoverable reserves top 5bn barrels of light crude oil and natural gas.
BG Group and its partners, Brazil’s Petrobas and Portugal’s GALP, said yesterday the appraisal well, designed to test the outer limits of the expected reservoir in the field, had confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons.
The UK company added that further evaluation of the well data is ongoing and work on optimising field development options continues to move ahead rapidly.
Oil and gas production from the Tupi development is expected to begin by the end of 2010. The well is located in 6,900 feet of water, more than 160 miles off the Rio de Janeiro coast.
BG Group has a 25 per cent interest in the field, with Petrobas holding a 65 per cent stake. Frank Chapman, the chief executive of BG Group, was recently embroiled in the row over executive pay after receiving £28m in cash, shares and pension contributions last year.