Brazil state oil company to pump Nigerian field in July
Brazilian state oil company Petrobras will start pumping oil from a Nigerian field on July 21, company officials said Saturday.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA expects to begin producing oil ``of the highest quality'' in the offshore Agbami field in partnership with French oil company Total SA and California-based ChevronTexaco Corp., Petrobras' Nigeria manager Rudy Ferreira told the Agencia Brasil state news service.
The company plans to immediately pump 100,000 barrels a day from the field and will boost output to 250,000 barrels a day by next year, Ferreira said.
Since 1998, Petrobras has invested about US$2.2 billion in oil exploration and production in Nigeria, where it owns shares in three fields. The company's Nigerian operations are expected to yield about US$2 billion a year in revenue next year, given oil prices of US$80 a barrel, Ferreira said.
Light, sweet crude oil reached a record $142.99 a barrel on Friday.
Company officials announced plans to boost investments in Africa last fall, earmarking US$1.4 billion to spend on Nigerian projects and US$900 million on Angolan projects between 2008 to 2012.
Petrobras is riding a wave of optimism following a handful of major oil discoveries, including more than 5 billion barrels at its offshore Tupi field last year.
In April, a top energy official announced a deep water find off Rio de Janeiro that could approach 33 billion barrels, among the world's largest. Petrobras downplayed that estimate, saying further studies were necessary.
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