11-08-2007, 11:57 PM | #1 |
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Huge offshore oil discovery
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- A huge offshore oil discovery could raise Brazil's petroleum reserves by a whopping 40 percent and boost this country into the ranks of the world's major exporters, officials said.
The government-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, said the new "ultra-deep" Tupi field could hold as much as 8 billion barrels of recoverable light crude, sending Petrobras shares soaring and prompting predictions that Brazil could join the world's "top 10" oil producers. Petrobras President Sergio Gabrielli said Thursday the oil from ultradeep areas, including the Tupi field, would give Brazil the world's eighth-largest oil and gas reserves. "Brazil's reserves will lie somewhere between those of Nigeria and those of Venezuela," Gabrielli said at a news conference. Petrobras says the Tupi field, off Brazil's southeastern Atlantic coast, has between 5 billion and 8 billion barrels -- equivalent to 40 percent of all the oil ever discovered in Brazil. Brazil's total oil reserves currently rank 17th in the world, with 14.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent, Gabrielli said. Thursday's news of the discovery rocked a country that became a net oil exporter only last year but must still import light crude oil for the refined products it needs. Brazil produces -- and exports -- mostly heavy crude oil, which has to be mixed with the light oil in refineries. Petrobras' American depository shares jumped $24.03 to $116.77 on the New York Stock Exchange to close at a 52-week high. In Brazil, Petrobras shares ended 14.1 percent higher Thursday at 80.17 reals ($45.94) in Sao Paulo. "If this is confirmed, we will no longer be a 'medium' country, pursuing self-sufficiency and exporting a little. It will transform the nation to another level, with exporting properties like Venezuela, Arab nations and others," said Dilma Rousseff, presidential chief of staff. For a country that went deeply into debt buying foreign oil in the 1970s and '80s, "this has changed our reality," she said. Rousseff also announced that Brazil was withdrawing 41 blocks of underwater territory from an auction of 312 prospective oil blocks to be held this month. The country still will put the remaining 261 blocks up for auction but will reserve the most promising areas around the Tupi field for itself. The Tupi field lies under 2,140 meters (7,060 feet) of water, more than 3,000 meters (almost 10,000 feet) of sand and rocks, and then another 2,000-meter (6,600-foot) thick layer of salt. The company drilled test wells that lie under 2,166 meters (7,100 feet) of water, 286 kilometers (177 miles) south of Rio de Janeiro. Getting that oil out of the Earth's crust is a formidable challenge, but most of Brazil's oil lies off its Atlantic coast, and Petrobras has become a global leader in ultradeep offshore oil extraction. Felipe Cunha, an oil analyst with the Sao Paulo-based brokerage Brascan, said the Tupi field guarantees Brazil's oil output will continue to grow. "If the best-case scenario happens, this discovery would make Petrobras' reserves overcome those of Shell and Chevron and put Petrobras behind only Exxon and British Petroleum," Cunha said. Petrobras has a 65 percent operating stake in the field, Britain's BG Group PLC holds 25 percent, and Petroleos de Portugal holds the remaining 10 percent. E-mail to a friend Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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11-09-2007, 12:27 AM | #2 |
E.B.A.H.
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Maybe Dubya should get his oil a little more locally. Prices would come down.
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11-09-2007, 12:55 AM | #3 |
Moderator.ca
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Your gas is cheap, don't complain. We are at the equiv of about $4.15/gal.
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11-09-2007, 01:08 AM | #4 |
E.B.A.H.
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ok. 3.63 isn't that bad then... My gas is more expensive than 95% of the US so I can complain about US prices...:stickingtongueout:
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11-09-2007, 02:03 AM | #5 |
www.Camaro5store.com
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Shoot...we were paying $2.85 reg for the longest time. I think my super was at something like $3.09-$3.15...ish. It's just gone up to $3.21 over the past day.
This new find is going to be great for those folks....and us. We'll be buying it from them I'm sure...at a lower cost. Guess I should see some new gas stations going up around town. |
11-09-2007, 07:28 AM | #6 |
Drives: 03 Dodge Dakota Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: New York
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Well, I don't feel too bad then, here it jumped to $3.21 for Reg. I don't see why they won't tap that reserve the found in the Gulf of Mexico a little while back, it's suppose to be bigger then what the mideast has, Mexico's aready started drilling for it.(Yeah, I know why the US won't drill)
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11-09-2007, 07:51 AM | #7 |
I used to be Dragoneye...
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Enviro -mental- ists. won't allow us to drill...but Cuba can.
I've had enough of this. With all the "great power" of our gov't, they can't overcome a bunch of tree-huggers? Alaska, Gulf of Mexico...probably more. just drill for it already. BUT in the meantime, pump money into alternative sources. Why can we think of these things? But all the gov't seems to be able to do is raise CAFE? |
11-09-2007, 08:21 AM | #8 |
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If I were in power, that's what I'd do. I'd say this is just a temp fix, for the next five to ten years I'd pump a "blank" load to money into research on alternate fuels. Youre never gonna get completely off oil, but we should beable to cut what we buy from the arabs in half or less with the oil in Alaska and the Gulf.
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11-09-2007, 08:25 AM | #9 |
Drives: 2006 Cobalt, 2004 Taurus wagon Join Date: Oct 2007
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Adjusting CAFE standards is the easy way out for politicians. It appeases the eco-nuts, and the public thinks that automakers can just choose whatever efficiency they want for cars at no cost or difficulty at all, so all we have to do is raise the standard.
Really though, it is amazing how far engines have come in the area of efficiency. Cars are heavier and more powerful than ever, but also increasingly fuel efficient. |
11-09-2007, 08:51 AM | #10 |
I just like V8s
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To put these numbers into perspective.
The oil reserve discovered contained 5 to 8 billion barrels or oil. If we are optimistic and assume it is 8 billion barrels The world uses 82 million barrels a day, and the United States 20.6 million barrels a day (2005 statistic), and assuming this consumption does not increase or decrease (unrealistic). Like to the stats: http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/quickfacts/quickoil.html 8 billion barrels of oil will last the world...... 8 billion barrels / 82 million barrels/day = 97 days or just over 3 months. 8 billion barrels of oil will last the United States 8 billion barrels/21 million barrels/day = 380 days or just over 1 year. To me this huge reserve just isn't that huge.
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11-09-2007, 09:14 AM | #11 | ||
I used to be Dragoneye...
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Quote:
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11-09-2007, 01:27 PM | #12 | |
the nerd king
Drives: 2005 scion xb... Join Date: Jul 2007
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Quote:
i'm ripping on the auto companies, it is all about money. why would an auto company come out with a car that could get 50+ mpg, 50k before oil change, and have 350+hp? we would all buy one and drive the wheels off of it. first year sales would be great but second would be down, then third and so on. i think CAFE is to force them to do something. other than make ugly cars that get great gas like the pyrus. |
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11-09-2007, 01:36 PM | #13 |
I used to be Dragoneye...
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I'm gonna take the defensive side and say they wouldn't because it'd be freakin' expensive.
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11-09-2007, 01:46 PM | #14 |
It would probably only be expensive because they would add on a "recouping predicted future losses" tax to make up for the slump in sales Swazworth was talking about.
I'm sure the technology wasn't cheap... 20 years ago. However, as we've all seen even in just the past 5 years, technology cheapens fast! If it cost an extra $20,000 20 years ago, chances are the exact same technology would only be a sum of its parts by now if kept in production throughout. |
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