SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Brazilian state oil company Petrobras will start pumping oil from a Nigerian field on July 21, company officials said Saturday.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA expects to begin producing oil "of the highest quality'' in the offshore Agbami field in partnership with French oil company Total SA and California-based ChevronTexaco Corp., Petrobras' Nigeria manager Rudy Ferreira told the Agencia Brasil state news service.
The company plans to immediately pump 100,000 barrels a day from the field and will boost output to 250,000 barrels a day by next year, Ferreira said.
Since 1998, Petrobras has invested about US$2.2 billion in oil exploration and production in Nigeria, where it owns shares in three fields. The company's Nigerian operations are expected to yield about US$2 billion a year in revenue next year, given oil prices of US$80 a barrel, Ferreira said.
Light, sweet crude oil reached a record $142.99 a barrel on Friday.
Company officials announced plans to boost investments in Africa last fall, earmarking US$1.4 billion to spend on Nigerian projects and US$900 million on Angolan projects between 2008 to 2012.
Petrobras is riding a wave of optimism following a handful of major oil discoveries, including more than 5 billion barrels at its offshore Tupi field last year.
In April, a top energy official announced a deep water find off Rio de Janeiro that could approach 33 billion barrels, among the world's largest. Petrobras downplayed that estimate, saying further studies were necessary.-AP
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