Brazil could recover up to 40 tcf of gas from 3 offshore fields

Nov 18, 2009 01:00 AM

Around 40 tcf of additional natural gas are expected to be recovered from the recent Tupi, Iara and Guara oil discoveries offshore Brazil, a spokeswoman for BG Group said.
The three fields are among the biggest recent oil discoveries in the world, containing between 9.1 bn and 14 bn barrels equivalent of recoverable oil and gas. They are set to transform Brazil into a major oil exporter as the fields come onstream in the next decade.

The confirmation of sizeable gas reserves in the fields, almost four times Brazil's proven reserves at the end of 2008 that could be used for domestic power generation is an added bonus for a country that suffered a major blackout in its largest city, Sao Paulo.
BG Group and partner Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) had said they are studying using new technology to commercialize gas reserves in these fields by converting them into liquefied natural gas aboard specially constructed ships. The LNG could then be supplied to Brazil or sold on global markets, BG said.

The fields are too far from the coastline and too deep beneath the sea for conventional fixed gas platforms or pipelines to be practical.