Pre-Salt in Brazil

What is pre-salt layer? The pre-salt layer is a strip of rocks developed by carbonate rocks, located below a layer of salt.

Location of the Pre-Salt Layer in Brazil

The pre-salt layer represents a new oil potential for the country. It is located in basins of the South and Southeast of Brazil and is about 800 kilometers long and 200 kilometers wide.

According to information from Petrobras, the pre-salt layer goes from the coast of Espírito Santo to Santa Catarina. This will significantly increase the company's oil and natural gas reserves.

The first area evaluated in this region, called Campo de Tupi (a field can contain several oil wells, while a basin can have several fields), has estimated volumes of between five and eight billion barrels of oil, and represents the largest oil field discovered in the world since 2000.

Estimates indicate that Tupi should increase Petrobras' reserves by another 50%. Petrobras' goal is to start production at Tupi in 2010, with a pilot project of 100 barrels per day, equivalent to 5% of national production.

In addition to the oil potential, the discoveries in the pre-salt region are distinguished by the quality of the oil. Most of Petrobras' reserves are heavy oil, while the pre-salt deposits contain light hydrocarbons, gas natural and condensed, can change the profile of the company's reserves, reducing the import of light oil and gas Natural.

The pre-salt layer is the third classified below sea level, under the post-salt and salt layers, and reaches more than seven thousand meters below the surface of the sea.