Petrobras announces huge oil well

A new offshore Brazilian oil well contains reserves estimated at 1.3 bn barrels, twice as big as the original estimate announced late last month, Petrobras announced. The Rio de Janeiro Submarino 436 well is in waters about 6,080 feet deep and is about 80 miles off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. In October, Petrobras said it had discovered oil at a depth of 2 miles which could add 400 million to 600 million barrels to total reserves. However, after tests, the well's capacity is now estimated at 10,000 barrels a day of high-quality oil, and potential reserves are put at 1.3 billion barrels. The new field will be called the Roncador Basin. Brazilian oil and gas reserves reached 11 bnboe at the end of 1995, of which 4.8 bnb of oil.