BRASIL/UK: Risky Deep Offshore Drilling Subsidized By Brits.

GUARDIAN EXCLUSIVE /     "The British government is subsidising one of the world's largest and riskiest oil-drilling projects in the Atlantic Ocean and would be liable for tens of millions of pounds if a major accident took place. Documents seen by the Guardian show that UK trade ministers underwrote loans taken out by the Brazilian state-run energy company Petrobras in 2005 in order that Rolls Royce and other companies could contribute to the building of the giant P-52 platform.  The platform is now operating 125km off the coast of Brazil in 1,798 metres (5,900 feet) of water - deeper than BP's Deepwater rig that exploded in April and led to the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."
AND..."Environmental groups today accused the government of forcing British taxpayers to underwrite a project that could lead to a disaster similar to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico."

BRASIL: BP Betting $7 Billion On Campos Oil Field.

TELEGRAPH.UK/    BP chief executive Tony Hayward is betting on Brasil's Campos basin for the company's biggest acquisition in seven years with the $7 billion purchase of leases there, in the Gulf of Mexico and Azerbaijan from Devon Energy. "There's no doubt it's absolutely key in terms of getting a foot in the door in Brazil," says energy analyst Malcolm Graham-Wood. "The blocks are not huge but it's very important for BP to be part of the pack." BP has become expert in deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, a necessary skill in the sub-salt Campos basin. BP is the last major petrol company to enter the Brasilian deepwater oil sweepstakes. Experts say the Campos basin has been less fruitful for oil discoveries than the Santos basin to the south but they still have "great potential."

BRASIL: Petrobras Announce New 65 Million Bbls Oil Find.

MERCO PRESS/   It seems like every month or so, oil giant Petrobras announces an offshore oil find. This week it revealed TWO separate oil discoveries in the Campos Basin with recoverable reserves of 40 million and 25 million barrels.

OGX Claims Up To 1.5 Billion Bbls Oil In Campos Basin.

BLOOMBERG/
Rio-based OGX claims that its BM-C-43 block, located in the shallow waters of the Campos Basin, may hold between 500 million and 1.5 billion barrels, based on well information and seismic data. The company owns all of the block, according to its Web site.
The company earlier this month also said it found signs of crude in the BM-S-29 block, in the Santos Basin off the coast of Sao Paulo state.

Petrobras Finds Light Crude In Campos Basin.

LAHT.

Petrobras says it has discovered a new light crude deposit ABOVE the salt layer in the ARUANA field of the Campos basin, off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

The CAMPOS basin currently accounts for roughly 80 PERCENT of Brazil’s crude output, although that may change once the new pre-salt deposits – so-named because they lie under a salt layer up to 2,000 meters thick – are developed.

“Preliminary analysis indicates the presence of approximately 280 million barrels of recoverable light crude, with good productivity,” the statement read.