U.S. energy company Chevron Corporation says it plans to develop a major oil field off the coast of Brazil as part of a joint venture with several other companies.
The oil field, named Frade, is located about 120 kilometers off the coast of Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state. Chevron says the project, estimated to cost $2.4 billion, will bring "significant" new supplies of crude oil to the world market.
The Frade field is estimated to contain between 200 to 300 million barrels of recoverable oil. Chevron says it expects oil production to begin in late 2008 or early 2009, with an output of 100,000 barrels a day.
Chevron says it will ultimately take a 51 percent stake in the oil field, while Brazil's state run oil company, Petrobras, will have a 30 percent stake. A group of Japanese companies, INPEX Holdings, Sojitz Corporation, and Japan Oil, Gas & Metals National Corporation, will have a minority (18 percent) interest in the project.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.