Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras has discovered oil ion the Sudoeste de Tartaruga Verde block in the Campos basin offshore Brazil, the media reported.
Petrobras will conduct a thorough study of the well, which was drilled in 1,080 metres of water, 130 kilometre offshore the city of Macaé, to better target exploratory activities in the area.
Petrobras owns a 100 percent in the block, which it acquired in 2018. The oil giant was awarded the block under Brazil’s 5th Production Sharing Round.
The new discovery of oil by Petrobras comes at a time when an oil price war has plunged the price of crude. Also, the world has entered a state of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A few days ago, Petrobras announced that it will cut oil production by 100,000 barrels per day by March-end due as the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in reduced demand.
Previously, Petrobras was producing over 3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).
Petrobras also becomes the first major state-run oil company to announce a significant reduction in output in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Responding to the coronavirus outbreak, the oil behemoth also announced the delay of dividend payment and slashed 2020 investments by nearly a third to $8.5 billion. It is also speeding-up reduction of operating expenses, with an additional decrease of $2 billion.
Petrobras’ capex reduction comes after various other major oil companies such as Chevron announced similar measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Covid-19 crisis has led to significant reductions in the demand for oil products, especially diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel across the globe.