Holy Spirit gives Petrobras hope

PETROBRAS HAS made an important new offshore oil discovery in the Espírito Santo basin, which should prop up confidence in the country's upstream prospects. However, the government needs to revise its terms for upstream ventures if it wants to keep investors interested, according to industry executives and Wood Mackenzie, the UK energy consultancy. A preliminary logging at well 1-ESS-123, in block BES-100, identified 50 metres of oil-bearing sandstone, at a depth of 3,794 metres, Petrobras said last month. Drilling will continue to a depth of 4,400 metres and there is a possibility of new discoveries. The well was drilled in 1,374 metres of water, about 60 km offshore. Petrobras claims the d