Brazil oil field could be huge find

…Petrobras said in a statement that more studies are needed to determine the potential of what could be the planet’s largest oil find in decades. Analysts said the magnitude of the find, if confirmed, could have far-reaching global energy ramifications.

“This would lay to rest some of the peak oil pronouncements that we were out of oil, that we weren’t going to find any more and that we have to change our way of life,” said Roger Read, an energy analyst and managing director at New York-based investment bank Natixis Bleichroeder Inc., which buys and sells stock in offshore drilling contractor Seadrill, a Petrobras contractor.

Lima told reporters that Petrobras “may have discovered a huge petroleum field that could contain reserves large as 33 billion barrels,” amounting to the world’s third-largest reserve, according to his spokesman, Luiz Fernando Manso.

His agency later issued a statement saying the comments were based on a recent report in World Oil magazine and a report last November from Brazil’s Agencia Estado news agency.

Brazilian Planning Minister Paulo Bernardo declined later Monday to discuss the discovery, saying, “It’s better to wait for official confirmation.”

Lima’s agency regulates Brazil’s oil industry, and his initial comments appeared to represent confirmation of what experts have long suspected: That extremely deep exploration areas hundreds of miles off the nation’s coast may hold potentially huge reserves.

While the potential Brazil find could add significant supplies to a global oil market many see as tight, it would likely take the better part of a decade before any of the oil finds its way to market.

AP