A consortium in which the wholly owned subsidiaries of Videocon Industries and Bharat Petroleum Corporation are members have completed the drilling of a second well in a block off Brazilian coast.
According to a BSE announcement, the drilling confirmed the existence of oil and helped determine the extent of the reservoir.
The discovery of hydrocarbons has been made in a block named BM-SEAL-11 in the sea where the water depth is close to 2.5 km, about 100 km off the coast of the city of Aracaju — in what is known as the Sergipe Basin — which was first announced in September 2011.
The consortium has found hydrocarbons to exist in a layer of sandstone that lies below the sea at a depth of 5,460 metres to 5,500 metres.
The 40-metre-thick oil bearing area (known as ‘pay’) has been found to hold ‘light oil’, which means good quality with high content of light distillates such as petrol, diesel and naphtha.
The concession (licence) belongs to a consortium in which Brazil’s national oil company, Petrobras, has a 60 per cent interest. The other 40 per cent is held by IBV Brasil, which is a joint venture equally owned by the wholly owned subsidiaries of Videocon Industries and BPCL.
On the BSE today, the Videocon Industries shares opened at Rs 177.85, up Rs 3.70 from the previous close.
Second in two months
This is the second time in two months that Videocon and BPCL are announcing hydrocarbon discovery off Brazilian coast.
On July 12, another consortium of Petrobras, IBV Brasil, and another company called Anadrako had announced the discovery of oil and gas in a block in the Espirito Santo Basin.