Petrobras said Friday that the company’s second well drilled in areas acquired from the government in 2010 confirms the discovery of high-quality crude.

Petrobras drilled the well in an area known as Nordeste de Tupi, which is northeast of the Lula field that was the first Santos Basin pre-salt discovery to enter production. The well was drilled in 2,131 meters of water about 255 kilometers offshore from Rio de Janeiro.

The federal oil company is accelerating development of the pre-salt fields, with plans to invest $225 billion through 2014 to increase crude oil output. A cluster of oil deposits was found in the Santos Basin off the coasts of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo states, potentially holding as much as 100 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

“So far, a column of oil more than 290 meters thick has been identified in carbonate pre-salt reservoirs,” Petrobras said of the Nordeste de Tupi prospect. Well tests showed the reserve contained oil rated at 26 degrees on the American Petroleum Institute’s rating scale.

Petrobras plans a well-formation test to evaluate the well’s productivity after drilling is completed.

In 2010, Petrobras acquired the rights to produce 5 billion barrels of oil from areas held by the government as part of a capitalization of the company that included a $70 billion secondary share offer. The first well drilled in these areas was at a prospect known as Franco.

Source: Dow Jones & Rigzone