Rio de Janeiro, Oct 12 (IANS/EFE): Brazilian state-controlled energy giant Petrobras said Thursday it struck oil at a well in ultra-deep waters of the Sergipe-Alagoas basin.

The new find was made at the BM-SEAL-11 block, a concession in which Petrobras is the operator with a 60 percent stake and partner IBV Brasil holds the remaining 40 percent.

The discovery was made at the Farfan well, which was drilled 109 km off the coast of Aracaju, capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Sergipe, in an area of the Atlantic where the water depth is 2,720 meters.

According to Petrobras' statement on Thursday, a 44-meter column of hydrocarbons was found by drilling the Farfan well to a depth of 5,582 meters.

A total of 40 meters corresponds to porous sandstone bearing light oil, the company said, adding that the well will continue to be drilled to a depth of at least 6,000 meters to analyze the reservoir rock and fluids.

Petrobras, one of the world's fastest-growing oil firms and a leader in deep-water exploration, obtains nearly 80 percent of its production from the Campos basin, off Brazil's southeastern coast.

In recent years, the company discovered an enormous new offshore oil frontier known as the "pre-salt", so-named because it is located far below the ocean floor under a shifting layer of salt up to two kilometers thick.