The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

XOM/HES/PBR May Yet Have a Hit in BM-S-22

[Among the three partners, this well is most consequential for HES, whose stock was hit hard when the Guarani well was found to be dry in Jul 2009 (#msg-39351839).]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-16/exxon-discovers-oil-in-offshore-well-in-brazil-s-santos-basin.html

›Exxon Finds Oil in Offshore Brazil Well After Dry Hole

By Juan Pablo Spinetto and Laura Price - Dec 16, 2010

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s biggest company by market capitalization, discovered oil in a deep-water field in Brazil’s Santos Basin after hitting a dry hole in the same block last year.

Traces of oil were found in the well, known as Sabia-1, in the BM-S-22 block, according to a posting on the website of Brazil’s National Petroleum Regulator. Exxon last year failed to find oil or natural gas at the Guarani well in the same block [#msg-39351839].

Irving, Texas-based Exxon said Nov. 11 that it started drilling the well using Seadrill Ltd.’s West Polaris rig. The well, which hasn’t yet been declared commercially viable, is in the so-called pre-salt area of the Santos Basin where Tupi and Libra, the two largest oil finds in the Americas in 34 years, are located.

"We are continuing to drill the well to its target depth," Patrick McGinn, an Exxon spokesman in Houston, said today in an e-mailed statement. "The details of our drilling program are confidential."

Exxon’s Esso Exploracao Santos Brasileira Ltda. unit owns 40 percent of the block, Hess Brasil Petroleo Ltda. owns 40 percent and Petroleo Brasileiro SA owns 20 percent. The well’s name is 3ESSO5SPS, according to the oil regulator.‹