RIO-DE-JANEIRO, November 8 (RIA Novosti) - A massive oil and gas deposit has been discovered in Brazil, and could make the Latin American country one of the world's leading hydrocarbon producers, the government-controlled Petrobras energy holding said on Thursday.
The monopoly said the new field, discovered on the southwestern coast of the country, could contain between 5 and 8 billion barrels of light oil.
If results of the initial research into the quantity of oil and gas are confirmed, Brazil will be able to increase its hydrocarbon reserves by over 50%, becoming a global leader.
The country is presently unable to meet domestic demand for natural gas and imported additional gas from Bolivia and Argentina in 2006.
In February, Russian energy giant Gazprom [RTS: GAZP] signed an agreement on hydrocarbon cooperation with Brazil. Gazprom has also shown interest in joining a transcontinental gas pipeline project set to go through Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela.
