Equinor, Partners Invest $9-B To Tap Brazil's Offshore Oil Reserves

Norwegian energy company Equinor said Monday it was joined by its Brazilian counterparts in making a final investment decision to tap an offshore basin with more than 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent reserves, Daniel J. Graeber reported for United Press International (UPI).

Photo Insert: The three prospects that make up the project contain more than 1 billion barrels of natural gas and an ultra-light form of oil called condensate.

Equinor was joined by Petroleo Brasileiro, better known as Petrobras, and the Brazilian subsidiary of Spanish energy company Repsol in announcing a $9 billion investment in the BM-C-33 project off Brazil.

Located in the resource-rich Campos Basin and situated beneath a thick layer of salt at the sea floor, the three prospects that make up the project contain more than 1 billion barrels of natural gas and an ultra-light form of oil called condensate.

"BM-C-33 is one of the main projects in the country to bring new supplies of domestic gas, being a key contributor to the further development of the Brazilian gas market," said Veronica Coelho, Equinor's country manager in Brazil.

"Gas exported from the project could represent 15% of the total Brazilian gas demand at start-up." Partners will tap BM-C-33 using a floating production storage and offloading vessel that was designed to lower the environmental impact of the drilling campaign.

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