巴西發(fā)現(xiàn)特大油田

Brazil's prospects of becoming a leading oil producer increased yesterday when it emerged that a giant offshore field could be double the size of BP's discovery last week in the Gulf of Mexico.

巴西昨日宣布發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)巨型海上油田，規(guī)模可能是上周英國(guó)石油(BP)墨西哥灣新發(fā)現(xiàn)的兩倍，這增強(qiáng)了巴西成為領(lǐng)先產(chǎn)油國(guó)的前景。

Petrobras, the national oil company, reported that the Guará field contained the equivalent of 1.1bn to 2bn barrels of recoverable oil and gas. BP's Tiber field, which BP called a “giant” discovery last week, is unofficially estimated to contain 500m-1bn recoverable barrels.

巴西國(guó)家石油公司(Petrobras)宣布，Guara油田的可采儲(chǔ)量為11億至20億桶油氣。據(jù)非正式估計(jì)，上周被BP稱為“巨型”發(fā)現(xiàn)的Tiber油田，可采儲(chǔ)量為5億至10億桶。

The news from Petrobras pushed up the share prices of BG and Repsol, the UK and Spanish oil companies that are partners in developing Guará. The field could enter production as soon as 2012.

來(lái)自巴西國(guó)家石油公司的消息，推高了英國(guó)天然氣集團(tuán)(BG)和西班牙石油公司Repsol的股價(jià)。這兩家公司均是開(kāi)發(fā)Guara油田的合作伙伴。這座油田可能在2012年就能投產(chǎn)。

To reach Guará's oil the developers must drill 2km under the sea and through several more kilometers of rock and semi-liquid salt. The oil strikes at Guará and Tiber show the technological complexities and high costs in exploiting this century's new oil bonanzas. The Tiber well, the deepest ever drilled, is 9km beneath the seabed.

要想開(kāi)采Guara的石油，勘探者必須在2千米深的水下作業(yè)，并進(jìn)一步向下鉆透數(shù)千米的巖層和半流質(zhì)鹽層。在Guara和Tiber發(fā)現(xiàn)巨大石油儲(chǔ)量，顯示出勘探本世紀(jì)新的大型油田的技術(shù)復(fù)雜性和高成本。Tiber油井位于海床以下9千米處，是有史以來(lái)鉆探最深的油井。

The higher-than-expected estimate of Guará's size has raised hopes about the prospects for nearby offshore fields in Brazil. Petrobras has not released reserves estimates for several of them.

Guara的估計(jì)儲(chǔ)量高于預(yù)期，這加大了人們對(duì)附近另一些巴西海上油田的希望。巴西國(guó)家石油公司尚未透露其中幾處油田的儲(chǔ)量估計(jì)。

The best indication of their potential come from the Tupi and Lara fields, part of the crescent of fields including Guará, which together hold an estimated 8-12bn barrels of recoverable oil, according to Petrobras, making them among the biggest oil strikes of recent decades.

有關(guān)這些油田潛在儲(chǔ)量的最佳信號(hào)，來(lái)自Tupi和Lara油田，它們是包括Guara在內(nèi)的半月形分布的一連串油田的一部分。據(jù)巴西國(guó)家石油公司稱，這些油田的總儲(chǔ)量估計(jì)有80至120億桶可采石油，這讓它們躋身于數(shù)十年來(lái)最大石油發(fā)現(xiàn)之列。

BG is a joint venture partner at Tupi. The company's shares rose 4 per cent to £10.95 ($18.13).

英國(guó)天然氣集團(tuán)是Tupi油田的合資開(kāi)采伙伴。該公司股價(jià)上漲了4%，至10.95英鎊（合18.13美元）。

Ten days ago Brasília proposed new regulations for the region where Guará is located.

10天前，巴西政府針對(duì)Guara所在地區(qū)提出了新規(guī)定。

These introduce production sharing agreements alongside the existing concessions system, with the aim of securing ownership over these potentially vast reserves.

除了現(xiàn)有的特許制，這些規(guī)定還引入了產(chǎn)量分成協(xié)議，旨在確保對(duì)巨大潛在儲(chǔ)量的所有權(quán)。

The proposed changes have brought claims from the oil industry that they introduce unnecessary uncertainty and will deter investment.

擬議的變化引發(fā)了石油行業(yè)的異議，認(rèn)為它們帶來(lái)了不必要的不確定性，將阻礙投資。

譯者/陳云飛