Petrobas finds natural gas in Santos Basin

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Brazilian state-controlled energy company Petrobras announced it discovered natural gas in very deep water off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

Petroleo Brasileiro, known also as Petrobras, announced that preliminary results from a well at its Jupiter concession confirmed the presence of a significant volume of natural gas and condensate.

The well was about 5 miles from an earlier well in the concession, which Petrobras said indicated the presence of a continuous reservoir between both wells.

The well was drilled in 7,000 feet of water about 170 miles off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Petrobras said it encountered a 500-foot column of hydrocarbons in the well in the Santos Basin.

In August, the company said it discovered an oil column measuring 965 feet in the Santos Basin. Reserves there exist beneath a thick submarine layer of salt.

Petrobras said there was an estimated 2.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent in the region.