State-controlled oil company Petrobras has announced the discovery of an estimated 25 million barrels of oil in Brazil's Atlantic waters.
The deposit is located in the Campos basin, off the north coast of Rio de Janeiro state, Petrobras said in a statement.
The light crude was found near the existing Marimba field and the proximity of installed infrastructure will make it possible to begin production at the new site by August 2010, the company said Monday.
Petrobras is on track to invest more than the 60 billion reais ($35.2 billion) programmed for 2009, CEO Jose Sergio Gabrielli said Monday at a seminar in Rio de Janeiro.
He also said the company would attain an average production of 2.05 million barrels per day by year's end.
"There is a margin of error in that target. It's possible the production is 2.5 percent above or below that level, but we'll be in that band," Gabrielli said.
Petrobras, an integrated energy company and the global leader in deepwater oil exploration and production, operates in 27 countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.