Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petrobras has made an oil discovery in deep waters offshore Brazil.
Petrobras said Thursday it had discovered the presence of oil in the pioneer well of the Uirapuru block, located in the Santos Basin pre-salt.
The offshore well is located about 200 km off the coast of the city of Santos (SP), at a water depth of 1,995 meters, with the discovery of oil in porous reservoirs in the exploratory prospect known informally as Araucária.
"The well data will be analyzed to better target the exploratory activities in the area and assess the potential of the discovery," Petrobras said.
Petrobras is the operator of the block and holds a 30% stake, in partnership with ExxonMobil (28%), Equinor (28%) and Petrogal (14%).
The Brazilian oil company earlier this week said it would increase its oil output cuts to 200,000 barrels per day, or about 6% of total production, and shorten work hours in response to low oil prices.
The company's CEO has described the current market situation as the "worst oil industry crisis in 100 years."
Brent crude oil futures rose as high as $33.05 a barrel on Friday on rising hopes of a new global deal to cut global crude supply.