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The Pre-Salt, discovered in Tupi, is the biggest discovery of the decade, in global terms.
So, bringing all of this pre-salt together, it is something that is very significant
in terms of the history of oil.
And, speaking of Petrobras, in the fifty years of exploration work done by the company,
our current reserves are thirteen to fourteen billion barrels.
Perhaps being conservative,
we will at least double our reserves with this pre-salt province.
An oil reservoir is not like many... many people who are not in the industry think.
It is not a lake full of oil you drill a well into,
as if you were putting a straw into into it as if it were a milkshake, to produce from. That is not how it is.
It is more like a sponge, and you produce
by squeezing the sponge or by injecting a fluid into the sponge to dislodge
a fluid out of it on the other tip. So, this is an oil reservoir.
Why is the pre-salt reservoir special?
There is an area located some two-hundred fifty
to three-hundred kilometers off the coast.
We have a depth of two thousand four-hundred meters from the water line there.
We have five-hundred meters of sediments... the pre-salt case.
Then we have two thousand meters of salt and after that layer of salt
and after that layer of salt we find our reservoir.
About one-hundred thirty million years ago, the American and African continents
were united. And because of the tectonic movements,
these continents started separating.
Back then, there was a lake environment between Brazil and Africa,
which on account of the climate on earth formed this thick layer of salt,
which in some places is as much as two kilometers wide.
Initially, the salt was very concerning to us, because salt
is a rock which becomes plastic on account of the temperature.
Because salt is very plastic, as you drill through it,
it tends to close the well walls.
So you go... as you penetrate, as the salt is also soluble,
it starts caving in on top of the drilling equipment.
you are at great risk of having... the drill string tied down.
Fortunately, our salt is a salt we've been able to cut through quickly,
maintaining well integrity.
We now see these two thousand meters of salt
not as a problem, it is nearly like... a friend. It benefits us.
It is the perfect seal, a salt bell jar that is two kilometers thick
and totally impermeable to oil. All of the oil that is down there
cannot escape.
So this is one of the reasons for success, which have been all of these...
initial stages for the success of our wells. The first important field is Tupi, which I have already mentioned.
The second, already with major estimated reserves that have been announced,
is the Iara field, which holds three to four billion barrels.
This has been motivating us to face increasing challenges.
No company in the world is facing the challenges we have there.
Nobody is facing what we are facing. And, fortunately, these challenges have afforded us results.
I have been at Petrobras for a full thirty five years, but experience
I have had here with ultra deep waters is the most enriching experience,
the most exciting experience I have had or even imagined I could experience.
It is the dream of any explorer: finding a field of this magnitude.
Not to mention several fields, I mean, this oil province
is a unique career experience too. I would certainly not have any other one like it.
Good.
Perfect.