Rio de Janeiro, May 9 (IANS/EFE): Oil giant Petrobras said it found "good quality" crude in an exploration well in Brazil's deepwater Santos basin.
The Entorno de Iara well is 235 km off the coast of the southeastern state of Rio de Janeiro in the pre-salt layer, Petrobras said.
The pre-salt layer is found beneath the sea bottom and contains a gel-like deposit of salt that could be up to two kilometers deep.
The crude was discovered at a depth of 2,266 meters, but the well was drilled to 5,058 meters "after achieving the goals set in the Cesion Onerosa contract" approved in 2010, Petrobras said.
Located in a roughly 160,000 sq. km offshore area, the pre-salt fields are estimated to contain roughly 80 billion barrels of oil equivalent and could potentially transform Brazil into a major crude exporter.