From Stratfor, news that Brazilian state oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) reportedly plans to start production at the Jubarte oil well in the Campos Basin on Aug. 12. While the well’s initial production is expected to be relatively small, the project marks a technological step forward for Petrobras. As the article notes:

“…Though this production level is relatively small, it marks a technological step forward for Petrobras, which has recently discovered two extremely deep water deposits — Tupi and Jupiter.

The Jubarte field is located just off the coast of Espiritu Santo state, adjacent to the Coachote field, which is expected to begin producing at a similar volume in October. At 4,265 feet below the ocean and 12,139 feet below the earth’s crust, the Jubarte field is the deepest that has been drilled in Brazil so far, outpacing the South Marlim field by nearly 2,000 feet of crust. Both fields are located in the Campos Basin, which boasts similar geology to the deposits found to the south, at the Jupiter and Tupi fields. All of these fields are “pre-salt,” which means that the oil and natural gas deposits are stuck under a layer of salt, which makes tapping their potential extremely difficult.

The oil and natural gas estimated to be in the Tupi and Jupiter fields roughly doubled Brazil’s estimated energy reserves when it was discovered. Tupi is estimated to hold between 5 and 8 billion barrels of oil, and Jupiter is expected to have a similar amount of natural gas — and Petrobras has only begun to explore the area. The find is a huge boon for Brazil and puts Petrobras at the forefront of the energy industry. Petrobras stands out as one of the most (if not the most) competent and competitive state-owned oil companies. With investment flooding in, Petrobras is moving forward rapidly with development of its fields, and hopes to begin bringing the Tupi field online in the first quarter of 2009, with production reaching 100,000 bpd in 2010.

But first, Petrobras must surmount major technological challenges. The Tupi field lies about 7,000 feet below the surface of the ocean, and the oil reserves are another 17,000 below the ocean floor. To make matters more complicated, the deposit is tightly sealed under an extremely thick layer of salt, making it one of the most technologically complex fields to access in the world.

By successfully tapping the pre-salt Jubarte field, however, Petrobras has demonstrated that it has made good progress toward its goal of tapping the Tupi field on schedule. And with that, Brazil and Petrobras are well on their way to energy kingpin status.”