Brazil's oil agency has announced a deep water find that could contain some 4.5 billion barrels of oil, putting the country on its way to becoming one of the world's leading oil producers. The well was drilled 195 kilometres off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in the massive 400 square kilometre Santos basin oil reserve. Oil in the reserve is located under a thick salt layer, and the well was drilled 2,189 metres below the ocean surface, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday.
Brazilian engineers believe that the reserves in the vast salt-layer region may exceed 50 billion barrels, which would turn the country into one of the world's largest oil producers and exporters.
