Petrobras Reconfirms Discoveries Viable at $40 per Barrel

Despite the technological obstacles of drilling Brazil's pre-salt discoveries, Petrobras has been insistent that its fields can be drilled at $40 per barrel; though skeptics remain in massive herds. Here they are reiterating their point:

State-controlled Petrobras said Tuesday that production from the massive oil fields deep below the ocean floor off Brazil’s Atlantic coast was viable at $40 a barrel for benchmark Brent crude.

The “pre-salt” reserves, so called because they are located under a thick layer of salt, can be extracted at a cost of less than $40 per barrel, Petrobras finance chief Almir Barbassa told reporters in Sao Paulo.

Among other things...

Brazil expects “to go from production of between 2 and 2.4 million barrels of petroleum daily to 5.7 million in 2020,” Barbassa said.

The “ambitious” strategic plan unveiled by Petrobras in January was well-received by investors, with the company’s shares on the Sao Paulo and New York stock exchanges outperforming the benchmark indexes for both markets, Barbassa said.

In January, the Brazilian oil giant released its 2009-2013 business plan, which includes the pre-salt assets for the first time and calls for a sharp increase in investment from $112.4 billion to $174.4 billion.

- Brewskie