Sunday, June 10, 2012

Brazil's Oil Boom: The Challenge of Offshore Pre-salt Deposits

As I discussed in a previous post, Brazil is rapidly turning into a major oil superpower.  Much of the oil production has been offshore, and while it will take time to develop these deposits, Brazil could easily end up emerging as the fourth largest oil producer in the world by 2020.

I recently came across an article on the site Seeking Alpha that discussed possible ways investors could benefit from Brazil's offshore oil boom.  The article does note the challenge of accessing oil deposits deep beneath surface in what are called "pre-salt" deposits, and the image below from the article provides a nice overview of the location of the major oil finds in Brazil's offshore waters as well as what the pre-salt deposits are.  The article notes the following:
"The extraction of pre-salt oil requires an offshore rig with a special drill bit able to bore through several thousand feet of salt to reach the treasure below." 
I found the article very interesting, and if you are interested to read it here it is:
Brazil's Emergence As A Major Oil Producer

Brazil's Offshore Oil Fields Located Deep Below the Ocean in Pre-Salt Deposits



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