Country Brazil Block BM S 11 Discovery 2010 | Location Santos Basin Offshore/onshore offshore Operator Petrobras | |
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Estimated oil in place 4,500 million barrels (~6.1×10^ t) | ||
Franco oil field is a large ultra-deepwater oil prospect located in the Santos Basin, about 230 km (140 mi) off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the second largest pre-salt find in the basin since 2007 behind Tupi field which holds between 5 and 8 Gbbl (1.3×109 m3) equivalent and is located just south of the Franco oil field.
Contents
History
The field was discovered in May 2010 with an encounter of light oil which measured at 30° API. The find was announced on May 14, 2010, however the Brazilian authorities claim the second well named Libra may turn out to be even larger than Franco field. Libra located 19 miles (31 km) from Franco is being drilled by Petrobras contracted by the Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum (ANP). It was also announced that Franco was not linked to Iara field located near the new discovery.
Ownership
Franco prospect is currently owned by ANP. ANP paid Petrobras a total of $150 million to drill the well. Under the state capitalization plan, Petrobras is expected to receive rights from the government to explore and produce up to 5 billion barrels of oil in exchange for new shares at fair market value.
Reservoir
The region the reservoir is located in is 200 kilometres (120 mi) wide and 800 kilometres (500 mi) long. The oil lies under 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) of water and further 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) under sand, rock and shifting salt layer. The field is believed to contain up to 4.5 Gbbl (720,000,000 m3) equivalent. The rock layer is 272 metres (892 ft) thick which makes it less difficult for production. ANP official stated there was no gas discovered in the prospect, making the field more profitable and easier to develop.