Petrobras and India's ONGC discover new oil reservoir off Brazil's Sergipe

Brazil's state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) said it has discovered a new deposit of light oil in deep waters off the coast of the northern state of Sergipe.

Petrobras said Well 3-SES-189, located in the Poço Verde area, discovered in 2012 in the BM-SEAL-4 exploration block, was drilled down to 5,350 meters in waters 2,479 meters deep.

Petrobras, in a 1 June statement, said that "the reservoirs contain light oil of good market value and are 85 meters wide, with good porous and permeable conditions," adding that another test was needed to confirm the conditions and establish the well's potential.

Petrobras is the operator and has a 75% stake in the prospect, in partnership with India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), which holds 25%.

Deepwater exploration in the Sergipe-Alagoas Basin by Petrobras, ONGC and India's Videocon Industries and Bharat Petroleum has resulted in some of Brazil's largest oil discoveries outside the giant finds in the Santos Basin, Reuters reported.

It is a welcome positive development, after Petrobras came under scrutiny over allegations of corrupt practises.

Petrobras scandal

Tens of thousands of Brazilian workers have taken the hit in a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal involving Petrobras, as a wave of job losses since November followed intensifying probes into price-fixing, bribery and political kickbacks.

With the scale of events deepening in recent months, key infrastructure projects have been suspended or scrapped, and some suppliers have sought bankruptcy protection.