Multiple Oil Finds Continue String of Success in Brazil

RigZone.com ^ | October 1, 2008 | Jeff Frick

[ladtx]

A series of oil finds reported to Brazil's National Petroleum Agency on Tuesday demonstrated once again the immense promise the country holds for global oil companies.

In a series of filings to the ANP, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro separately said they found oil off the coast of South America's largest country.

Details about the latest discoveries were limited because of the nature of the routine filings, but the finds continued a recent string of positive discoveries offshore Brazil. Oil companies operating in Brazil are required to inform the ANP within 24 to 48 hours if any exploratory wells hit oil or gas.

[ladtx]

Once again the US is left in the dust by Brazilian exploration and discoveries offshore. US oil companies find a much friendlier environment once the get beyond the reach of our own government. And again our congresscritters will whine and moan about no jobs and how much they want to help American workers. Damnit, let us drill we can cure a host of problems by that one move.

[milwguy]

Don’t you know we only have less than 3% of the world’s oil reserves you moron? The democrats and envirowacko/marxists are determined to keep it that way by not allowing any drilling in our own waters. Heaven forbid if Devon, Anadarko, El Paso, etc were allowed access to potentially rich areas off our coasts.

We need to keep the sheeple dumb here, Shell has been trying for two years to do some exploratory drilling in the Beaufort Sea, but two years in a row, the courts laid out new envirowacko troadblocks to stop them. The polar bear and endangered species act is just the latest ruse to keep us from discovering the VAST oil we have off our own coasts.

[do the dhue]

Good news for the consumer. Now we need to do the same and drill our own.

And I want you to know that I am an EARTH FIRST kind of guy. We can drill for oil on the other planets later.

[marron]

They have drilled their way to energy independence. And they are doing oil shale. And they are getting ready to build about 50 nukes.

I would gladly swap our Dems for Brazilians. Someone who will put their country first.

[norraad]

Drill earth first!

We'll have the same "surprising" finds as soon as hands are untied, that's all.

If it wasn't for water being slightly more plentiful, our planet's nickname would have been the "oil planet" instead of the "water planet".

[do the dhue]

lol

you got it!

[PharaohBamaGonna]

I have worked in the oil industry as a drilling consultant for the past 25 years, worn out passports etc. The problem is that this country has been drilled like Swiss cheese. I have no ideological bias against drilling offshore the US, it's too bad this new found interest in drilling did not occur about 20 years ago (From the Fram Oil Filter commercial, you could have payed then but chose to pay later by depending on the "free market" which does not exist in crude oil) when oil was selling for less than $10/bbl.(proactive instead of reactive)
Drill, drill, drill.

Over twenty years ago, a manager with Amoco International (no longer in existence swallowed up by BP) told me that the company drilled 75% of it's wells in the US, yet paradoxically made 25% of it's profits from these domestic U.S. wells. Said another way, 25% of it's total wells (located overseas) accounted for 75% of it's profit! It's inherently more profitable for the International Oil Companies to operate internationally. Exxon-Mobil makes 13% of it's net profit from one MONSTER field located in the Middle East yet it "only" has a 25% interest in this particular subsidiary (RasGas).

I wonder where Petrobras (Brazilian National Oil Company)is going to find the deep water rigs from Drilling Contractor, Transocean to appraise and develop their fields? By the way the increase in the day rate for deep water floaters (about $1 MM/day) exceeds the increase in the price of oil. The returns worldwide have been flat since about the year 2005. With a collective worldwide production rate of 86 or 85 Million bbls/day i.e. the IOCs (International Oil Companies) are not replacing their reserves (depleting assets). The current Chinese population which owns and drives autos - 4% scary (You think they are going to go back to riding bicycles?). Also, Middle East consumption which is subsided by the Middle Eastern host governments has grown to rival the consumption of the Chinese - 7? Million Bbls/day. This fact is rarely if ever mentioned by the financial press.

This country is in a competition with the Chinese for resources (strategic metals - copper, cobalt, platinum, chrome etc. as well as petroleum) especially in Africa and it is not even conscious of this fact.

The IOCs do not have access to the worldwide acreage like in the recent past and instead the world is more dependent upon more bureaucratic National Oil Companies (NOCs) like Petrobras, Petronas and Aramco. The infrastructure of the oil companies were destroyed with the takeovers especially in the 80s. Exploration and production staffs were leveled (marginalized is the financial buzzword). There were 4,500 land rigs operating in the US in the early 80s, today there are 1,900 - 2,000 land rigs operating. That is called a decrease even in Washington, D.C.

"The driller's bit follows the path of least resistance".

[ladtx]

While there is still a great deal to be made from exploration and development of new fields, at a gigantic cost of course, I think most likely the best way is through new technology. Whoever can develop and produce a vehicle that can operate on CNG safely and at a reasonable cost will be a winner. When I worked in the oil fields as a lowly deck hand about 50 years ago we used trucks that would run on butane or gasoline. Surely by now techology can be developed to use CNG.

I have an uncle that is a drilling supervisor looking after 30 rigs in the Barnett Shale and drives from Waco to Wichita Falls almost every day. He has a hard time keeping up with them and his company wants to give him more. There is more shale fields being discovered all the time. The last time I talked to him he said he gave his notice that he was going to retire in about 10 years, he's almost eighty now. I asked him how come he's not retired already. He said, "hell, I'm having too much fun." He says the Barnett is the biggest he's seen and he's been going at it for about 60 years.

[thackney]

I wonder where Petrobras (Brazilian National Oil Company)is going to find the deep water rigs from Drilling Contractor, Transocean to appraise and develop their fields?

They already have most of them.

Petrobras Hires 80% of Deepwater Rigs, Inflates Rents
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a8V5CHwdycrk&refer=home

Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil's state-controlled oil company, leased about 80 percent of the world's deepest-drilling offshore rigs to explore prospects including the Western Hemisphere's biggest discovery in decades.

[thackney]

http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-gx/

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/fuels/natural_gas_related.html

[ladtx]

Looks like they are on the right road with more deveopment it could become a good alternative. 16 hours to fill up at home will need some work.

[thackney]

Typical use for a vehicle like this would be to “plug” it in every night. 4~8 hours would take care of nearly everybody daily use to keep it topped off.

Here is an example of a home compressor unit. 4 hours approximately equal to 50 miles. (based on the Honda GX I believe)

http://www.myphill.com/index.htm