Friday, September 5, 2008

Brazil May Have 70 Billion Barrels Near Tupi



Brazil May Have 70 Billion Barrels of Oil Near Tupi.

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil has between 30 billion and 70 billion barrels of oil in its so-called pre-salt fields near the Tupi discovery off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, said Julio Bueno, the state's economic affairs secretary.

The oil estimate refers to fields previously discovered by Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil's state-controlled oil company, BG Group Plc and other companies in the Santos Basin, Bueno said today in an interview with Bloomberg Television in London.

``We think that in the areas that Petrobras and other companies have already discovered we have 30 billion to 70 billion,'' said Bueno, a former Petrobras executive. ``It's not an easy task to say how much you have, but it's a good amount to think about.''

About $600 billion will be needed to develop the pre-salt resources, an amount that will require involvement from both Brazilian and non-Brazilian oil companies, Bueno said. The Tupi field may have as much as 8 billion barrels of recoverable oil, Petrobras said in November, making it the largest oil discovery in the Americas since 1976.

Bueno favors retaining Brazil's existing rules and regulations governing oil exploration and believes a national debate over how to spend revenue from the new fields will not end with restrictions on foreign investment.

``The law is very nice and running well,'' he said. ``We need foreign investment and technology. We need an open system.''

Rio de Janeiro-state's position as Brazil's main oil- producing region and its governor Sergio Cabral's close relationship with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will help ensure that major changes to the country's oil lease system aren't made, Bueno said.


Brazil currently leases its oil rights to private companies at auctions and the companies can sell the oil they produce. The discovery of the new fields has initiated a discussion about how to increase the government's share of oil revenue and whether the state should take a bigger role in managing oil development.
I just averaged down.

5 comments:

Anaconda said...

UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE VISITS LIBYA

September 5, 2008

U.S. Secretary of State Rice visits Libya. This is the most high ranking visit to Libya since 1957 when Vice President Nixon visited and the first for a U.S. Secretary of State since John Foster Dullles in 1953.

"Rice's visit comes amid a surge in interest from U.S. companies, particularly in the energy sector, to do business in Libya, where European companies have had much greater access in recent years. Libya's proven oil reserves are the ninth largest in the world, close to 39 billion barrels, and vast areas remain unexplored for new deposits.

Rice said she was eager to promote commercial ties and an agreement on cultural and educational exchanges was expected to be signed during her visit."

39 billion barrels of oil is a conservative estimate since it doesn't include unexplored areas of Libya and offshore areas that may have as much oil as onshore deposits.

Also, Abiotic Oil Principles have never been applied in Libyan oil exploration & production. Exploration has been confined to shallow oil deposits.

So both deep drilling onshore and offshore deepwater, deep-drilling techniques could be profitably applied to increase Libya's current oil production.

With Abiotic Oil, the idea that Libya will "use up" its oil faster is a non-factor.

Applying Abiotic Principles to Libya's oil reserves may increase the reserves to 100 billion barrels.

Libya has been held back in its oil production by OPEC quotas and a lack of investment. Like most nationalized oil sectors, investment has been limited on a self-imposed, arbitrary political basis.

Most Lybian oil is sweet.

Libya has the potential to be the "Dubai" of the Mediterranean.

Tourism from Europe also has vast potential as Libya has numerous Roman ruins that spark Euopean imaginations.

Billions of Dollars or maybe I should say Euros could be earned on the tourist trade.

Beaches on the Libyan coast are spectacular and close to European population centers.

Libyans have been isolated from the West for decades, but have an "old time" reputation for outstanding hospitality.

Libya, with its location, natural resources, and cultural amenities, can be a leader on the North African coast in the 21st century.

Huge oil deposits, Roman ruins, beaches, and Libyan hospitality spell $$$$ for Libya and its People.

Quantum_Flux said...

Social Security is a blunder in Cuba too

In order for Social Security to work, the birth rate has to equal or be greater than the death rate. If people are living longer and having less births, then the social security tax either needs to be raised on the workers or the retirement age needs to be raised.

Hmmm, I’ll have to think about the diffy equations for the other non-steady state scenarios, however, suffice it to say that there are other factors involved with a higher birthrate scenario having to do with rations and using up resources, and then being limited by expansion on the Cuban Island. A higher birthrate might, possibly, cause competition and destroy Communism…. geeze, there are a lot of aspects to this differential equation that the Commies may never have thought of that are of importance in the gameplan of the “No Free Lunch” McCain campaign…. I think Communism might actually be an ideological spin off of that perpetual motion ecconomics ideal or ponzi scheme of Christianity, or some manner of economic parallel thereof (mostly stated in the book of Acts).

I hypothesize that Christian Socialism and Communism can only thrive in time of expansion, whereas Secular Humanism and Capitalism are strong in times of both, expansion or in times of decline.

Anyhow, the reason that all of this may be relevant is that as long as oil reserves are huge, Russia can remain stable with a booming success buffer. .... er, I'm still working on this mental simulation in my mind though.

Anaconda said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Quantum_Flux said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anaconda said...

BRAZIL OIL PART OF A BIGGER SYSTEM

Brazilan oil may be part of a bigger system of oil deposits located on the continental margin in conjuction with latitudinal faults that are lifted and torn where pressure sequences result from the differential of continental pressure and movement with seabed pressure and movement.

The following quotes are from a scientific paper available, here (scroll down to standing text), entitled "Cracks of the World", but is an earlier version, described and dated as a talk to Arizona Geological Society, July 3, 2001, of the paper with the same name linked here.

The following quotes suggest that larger petroleum deposits may be found in the continental margin area than closer to the Atlantic mid-ocean ridge along these "latitude-parallel faults."

As stated:

"Tears in subducting oceanic crust and fracture zones in oceanic crust are anchored to and connected with analog fractures in the adjacent and overriding continental plate at the subduction zone interface."

And:

"Large-scale petroleum accumulations in the North America and South America plates also appear to be associated with cryptic deformation zones above tears in the subducting, mainly oceanic plates. The tears also integrate with the oceanic fracture system. Where the oceanic fractures intersect a given continental plate at subduction zones, tears in the oceanic plates are the rule rather than the exception. Flat-plate subduction is typically associated with Laramide-style basement-uplifts in the continental interior, whereas moderate- to steep-dip subduction is associated with foreland, fold-thrust deformation in the continental interior."

Post note:

For those readers interested in Keith's hydrothermal hydrogen theory, there are a series of papers on the subject at the above linked here.

Also, available is Keith's Hydrothermal Hydorcarbons.

The following is an abstract that gives more depth and clarity to Keith's theories and gives further evidence that the oil industry knows of and respects Keith's Abiotic Oil theories as the below abstract was presented to the AAPG annual conference in 2006.

Keith, S.B. and Swan, M.M., Peridotites, Serpentinization, and Hydrocarbons: Abstracts with programs AAPG Annual Meeting Houston, Texas April 9-12, 2006.

Abstract:

Peridotites, Serpentinization, and Hydrocarbons

Stanley B. Keith and Monte M. Swan
MagmaChem, L.L.C, Sonoita, AZ

"Serpentinization of peridotites by oceanic or metamorphic sourced brines under strongly reduced conditions and temperatures of 200-500 C produces hydrocarbon-rich, chloride and/or bicarbonate metal-bearing brines. Serpentinization is common on the ocean floor along fracture zones (Lost City), beneath conventional petroleum in rifts due to sedimentary burial (Gulf of Mexico) or thrust loading (Roan Trough), and at the top of flat subducting oceanic crust (Eocene beneath UT, CO, WY). Peridotites exhibit high-gravity, low-magnetic signatures. Serpentinized peridotites exhibit high-magnetic, low-gravity signatures. Volume expansion during serpentinization of up to 8X causes diapiric doming and induces expulsion of hydrocarbon-stable brines. There are 2 major types of peridotites: 1) magnesian dunitic peridotite with low V/Ni, high Au-Mg-Cu-Cr-Na/K, up to1400 ppm C (lithosphere source 51-130 km), 2) quartz alkalic aluminum-spinel peridotite with high V/Ni, high S-Mo-Ti-Al-Mn-Fe-U-K/Na up to 800 ppm C (athenosphere source 360-420 km). If hydrogen-stable (mainly thermogenic methane) peridotite-sourced brines rise into shelf carbonate sequence, they may form magnesian or quartz alkalic hydrothermal dolomite (HTD) and thermogenic gas. If the brines breech the hydrosphere they may produce "white smokers" (tuffa vent mounds/pinnacle reefs) along faults and enrich shales with exhalative metal and hydrocarbon. Petroleum condensate typically forms in reservoirs between the HTD zone and seep sites at the top of the lithosphere. Type I kerogen in black shale vents from Mg peridotite-sourced brines whereas Type II kerogen in black shale vents from quartz alkalic peridotite-sourced brines. Correspondingly hydrocarbon chemistry divides oil and gas into 2 major types: 1) magnesian sweet, low-sulfur paraffinic-naphtheric, 2) quartz alkalic sour, high-sulfur aromatic asphaltic. Geochemical markers that tie oil and gas to specific peridotite hydrothermal sources include nano-particle native metals and diamonds, and V-Ni porphyrins."

The above abstract Abiotic Theory is consistent with continental margin oil deposits like the deposits off the Brazil coast as per the post.

Questions may be raised that Keith's theory is inconsistent or contradictory to J.F. Kenney's work and the Russian theory of Abiotic Oil.

But the following scientific paper, Inorganic Origin In Upper Mantle Seen Likely For Solid Hydrocarbon In Syrian Plateau Basalt, is available through J.F. Kenney's website.

Presumably, J.F. Kenney would not carry a paper he didn't agree with on his website.

Here are some quotes:

"The concentration variations of those elements depended on the percentage of olivine, pyroxenes, spinel, and plagioclase found in xenoliths and included in carbonatite."

The above minerals are known more broadly as peridotites and the processes described are known as serpentinization as stated in Keith's work.

Futher:

"Reactions probably occurred between 230-500 C. (7-16 km in depth)."

This is consistent with the temperatures described in Keith's work:

"...metamorphic sourced brines under strongly reduced conditions and temperatures of 200-500 C produces hydrocarbon-rich, chloride and/or bicarbonate metal-bearing brines."

Keith's work also dicusses the role and presence of dolomite which this writer has referred to numerous times on this website as 80% of North American oil deposits are found in association with dolomite as described in this article discussing the "Dolomite Problem."

The pieces to the Abiotic Oil puzzle fit tighter and tighter all the time.

Brazilan oil deposits possibly top 70 billion barrels and the evidence points to an Abiotic Origin.

The most recent post, on Middle East oil production increasse, gives credence to Abiotic Oil and drives a stake in the heart of "Peak" oil theory as will be further discussed in the comments section of the Middle East oil post.