Brazil's Petrobras starts export of pre-salt oil

Brazil's state-controlled oil giant Petrobras announced on Tuesday the conclusion of the first export of the oil extracted from the country's pre-salt oil reserves.


According to the company, the first shipment of pre-salt oil was sold to Chilean state-owned company Empresa Nacional del Petroleo (ENAP).


Petrobras sold to ENAP one million barrels of oil extracted from the Lula field, in the Santos Basin, off Brazil's southeastern coast.


The shipment is expected to be embarked in mid-May and taken to the Chilean cities of Quintero and San Vicente.


The first evidences of Brazil's pre-salt oil reserves were discovered in 2005. Since then, several fields have been discovered in the Santos and Campos Basins, off the country's southeastern coast.


Production in the pre-salt reserves started in 2008, and the commercial.


exploration was kicked off last year.


Brazil's pre-salt reserves are estimated at 10.6 to 16 billion barrels of recoverable oil. If fully confirmed, they will double Brazil's current.


reserves, which amount to 15 billion barrels.
(Source:http://news.xinhuanet.com)