Petrobras said a new well has discovered the largest net pay to date in the Libra block, with 410 m of thickness, surpassing the previous largest column of 301 m announced in March.

The latest well, located in the northeast section of the block 180 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, confirmed the discovery of good-quality oil (27 degree API) in highly productive reservoirs, Petrobras said in a news release June 15. Libra is in the pre-salt Santos Basin offshore Brazil.

The well, called 3-BRSA-1339A-RJS (3-RJS-742A) and informally known as NW2, is 10.3 km south of the 2-ANP-2A-RJS discovery well.

So far, seven wells have been drilled in the Libra block and the eighth (3-RJS-743A), also in the northeast of the block, is currently being drilled, the release said. The Libra Consortium includes operator Petrobras, 40% interest; Shell, 20%; Total, 20%; CNPC, 10%; and CNOOC, 10%. The production-sharing agreement is managed by Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A.

Offshore