Brazil Finds World's Third Largest Oil Field

SAO PAULO, Brazil - April 15, 2008:

Writing for AP last night, Alan Clendenning has reported that Brazil has found a new deep-water oil field that might yield as much as 33 billion barrels of oil, an amount that according to one energy analyst, "would nearly triple Brazil's reserves and make the offshore bloc the world's third-largest known oil reserve."

In the story, another analyst was quoted as saying, "This would lay to rest some of the peak oil pronouncements that we were out of oil, that we weren't going to find any more and that we have to change our way of life."

A Brazil government agency spokesman issued a cautionary statement that they were still awaiting official confirmation of the size of the field. The AP report also quoted Tim Evans, an analyst with Citigroup Inc. in New York as saying, "You're talking about a reserve the size of total U.S. reserves. It's a big, big number."

Clarifications on the discovery in the Carioca area
Regarding the information attributed to the general director of the National Oil, Natural Gas, and Biofuels Agency, Haroldo Lima, published by the press today (04/14) regarding possible reserves located in the Carioca area, Petrobras clarifies that:

The consortium formed by Petrobras (45% - Operator), BG (30%), and Repsol YPF Brasil (25%) is still following its exploratory program for Block BM-S-9, in the Santos Basin. The Block is composed of two exploratory areas. Well 1-BRSA-491-SPS (1-SPS-50) was drilled in the largest of them, and resulted in the discovery announced on September 05 2007. On that occasion, the market was informed that more investments are required to drill new wells, the Assessment Plan for which is in its final preparation phase and is expected to be submitted to the NPA in the upcoming days.

Following the normal exploration schedule, on March 22 2008, the Company started drilling the second well, the 1-BRSA-594-SPS (1-SPS-55), which is located in the smaller area of the block, but it has yet to reach the pre-salt layer. The ongoing exploratory activities include drilling new wells, long-duration formation tests, and new geological studies to prove the range of the discovery.

More conclusive data on the discovery’s potential will only be known after the other phases involved in the assessment process have been completed, and they will be announced to the market in a timely manner.

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