BRASILIA, Brazil, March 26 (UPI) -- British energy company BP expects its latest oil discovery off the coast of Brazil has commercial prospects, regional Vice President Neil Piggott said.
BP said it achieved a flow rate of 5,600 barrels of oil per day and sustained that for 32 hours during a test of its Itaipu-1A discovery offshore Brazil.
"This is a good result for the Itaipu project, indicating that commercially viable flow rates can be achieved from this pre-salt carbonate reservoir," Piggott said in a statement.
The Itaipu well is in the deep-water Campos Basin, a lucrative oil reserve beneath a thick layer of salt about 75 miles off the Brazilian coast.
Brazil ranks second behind Venezuela in terms of proven oil reserves in South America. An estimated 50 billion barrels of oil lies off Brazil's coast, a volume that's expected to put the Latin American country on par with some of the world's top oil producers.
BP said it expects to conduct more work in the prospect area this year.
