Tupi oil field

The Tupi oil field is a large oil field off the coast of Brazil located in the Santos Basin. The field was discovered in a geological formation known as the Pre-salt layer and is a new petroleum play which is thought to contain significant volumes of oil and natural gas.

Infobox Oil field
name = Tupi
country = Brazil
region = Latin America
coordinates = coord |25|30|S|43|30|W [cite web |url=http://www2.petrobras.com.br/ri/pdf/2007_Formigli_Miami_pre-sal.pdf |title=Pre-Salt Reservoirs Offshore Brazil: Perspectives and Challenges|year=2007|month=November|accessdate=2008-02-17]
locblock = BM S 11
offonshore = Offshore
operators = Petrobras
partners = BG Group, Galp Energia


caption = caption to image
discovery = 2006
startofproduction = Expected 2010/11
expectedabandonment =
currentproductionoil = Expected 100,000 b/d
currentproductiongas =
estimatedstoiipoil = 5-10 Billion BOE
estimatedstoiipgas =
producingformations = Barremian, Lower Aptian Guaratiba Formation

Petrobras says this field is "comparable to the most important" in the world. The Tupi accumulation, in block BM-S-11 of the Santos basin, contains at least 5-8 billion barrels of recoverable oil, according to the state-controlled oil company. This would make it twice the size of Roncador, previously Brazil's largest field. Not only does Tupi have the potential of a 50% increase of the country's oil and gas reserves of 14 billion BOE, but it has also opened up a new horizon for exploration in Brazil: it is a pre-salt discovery – held in rocks beneath a salt layer that, in places, reaches thicknesses of over 2,000 metres. Until now, Brazil's reserves have been found in post-salt formations – above the salt layer.

The crude oil is an intermediate or medium gravity oil of 28-30 °API, which corresponds to a specific gravity around 0.88. The Tupi crude oil is considered sweet, which means that the sulfur content is less than 0.5 percent sulfur by weight.

The BG Group announced the discovery on October 4, 2006, stating that the well flowed 4900 barrels per day of sweet 30 °API crude oil and 4.3 MMscf per day of gas from a deep pre-salt reservoir on a 5/8th inch choke.

The upper estimate of 8 billion barrels of recoverable oil would be enough to meet the total global demand for crude oil for about three months at the current (2008) global extraction rate of around 85 million barrels per day.

In January 2008 Petrobras announced the discovery of the Jupiter field, a huge natural gas and condensate (very light oil) field which could equal the Tupi oil field in size. It lies Unit km|37|0 east of Tupi. [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7201744.stm
title='Huge' gas field found off Brazil
publisher=BBC News Online
accessdate=2008-05-27
last=Duffy
first=Gary]

Recent estimates have pushed the total estimated barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) to greater than 30 billion, though Petrobras has not confirmed the highest estimate. [cite web |url=http://www.energycurrent.com/index.php?id=2&storyid=8745 |title=BG Group: Tupi could hold more than 30 billion BOE |accessdate=2008-02-17] These estimates are being put into severe doubt by impartial analysts. [cite web |url=http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11043022 |title=The Economist: Oil and Brazil, What Lies Beneath |accessdate=2008-04-17]

References