Rio, 7/1/2003 (Agência Brasil – ABr) – Petrobras reports that a consortium it is a member of has discovered oil in an exploratory well located in ultra-deep waters in the American sector of the Gulf of Mexico. The consortium members are BHP Billiton (40%), Total (15%), Amerada Hess (15%) and Petrobras (30%). The well is located in an area known as Chinook. Drilling began there in January and oil was struck at a depth of 8,427 meters.

In a message to the São Paulo stock market (Bovespa), Petrobras called the discovery "extremely encouraging." adding that a complete evaluation of the new well will be possible only after technical studies.

This latest discovery in the Chinook field is located some 32 kilometers from another discovery made in 2002, in a field called Cascade, also operated by BHP Billiton, where Petrobras has a 25% stake. (AB)