New Brazil Oil Finds May Be One Big Field

Recent Brazilian oil discoveries may all be connected and form one big oil field, Brazil's Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview Saturday.

"There is a connection between them. It could be one big field. That's not absolutely proven, but there are signs that it could be one big field," Lobao said, when asked whether the Carioca, Guara and Bem-Te-Vi finds could form one massive oil field.

Haroldo Lima, the head of Brazil's oil agency ANP, in April had sent shock waves through the oil world saying that the area around the Carioca find by Brazil's state-run oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR), or Petrobras, could contain reserves of 33 billion barrels in oil equivalent. Petrobras has a 45% operating stake in Brazil's BM-S-9 oil block, with BG Group PLC. (BG.LN) holding another 30%, and Spain's Repsol YPF SA (REP) with 25%.

Lobao didn't directly confirm Lima's estimate but said he "hopes" that reserves around Carioca "are more than that."

Petrobras last week said it struck oil in a second well in the BM-S-9 block, called Guara, after having announced the Carioca find last year. The company also said it found oil at Bem-Te-Vi in the adjacent BM-S-8 block, where Petrobras is the lead operator with a 66% stake, while Royal Dutch Shell PLC ( RDSA) holds 20% and Portugal's Galp Energia has a 14% stake.