Petrobras has acquired a 50% interest in Block 4, located off the coast of Benin (West Africa) from Compagnie Béninoise des Hydrocarbures (CBH), a subsidiary of Lusitanian Petroleum, which holds remaining 50%.

Petrobras expects to find reserves of light oil, similar to those discovered on the African continent, in line with the corporate strategy of seeking opportunities in deep- and ultra- deep waters in the region, and already has established operations in Nigeria, Angola, Tanzania, Namibia and Libya.

The block covers an area of approximately 7.4 thousand square kilometers, at a water depth that varies from 200 to 3,000 meters, about 60 Km from the coast.

CBH continues to operate the block, but Petrobras has an option to take over operations. The company has made a commitment to collect and process 2,250 Km2 of 3D seismic data by the end of this year. Once the exploratory potential of the area is confirmed, the consortium will commence operations, initially drilling three wells.

Source: Petrobras News Agency (Published on 22/2/2011 )