Offshore Oil & Gas: Brazil’s Northern Frontier
In an effort to spread out oil and gas production to other parts of the country and increase overall oil production, Brazil has finally intensified hydrocarbon exploration along its northeastern and northern coasts. These are some of the poorest regions in the country and infrastructure for oil and gas exploration is minimal, yet significant discoveries and seismic indicators of large reservoirs are tantalizing and have attracted major local and foreign investors. Potential for oil discoveries in the area is proven, yet players will be faced by many challenges offshore and on land in order to uncork reservoirs at the Northern Frontier.
Offshore Week
PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd., Canada's No. 2 oil company, could soon be on track to develop an East Coast offshore gas project to rival the huge Sable Island project, its chief executive said. PanCanadian, the oil and gas arm of conglomerate Canadian Pacific Ltd., plans to drill two appraisal wells this year near its recent Deep Panuke gas discoveries, made at the site of the exhausted Copan oil project off Nova Scotia. The wells will give the company the geological data it needs to decide whether to pursue more drilling or full development, PanCanadian CEO David Tuer said. Two recent wells drilled into the gas formation beneath the old oil reservoir tested at more than 50 million cubic feet a day each.