Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras said on Friday it had made a new oil discovery in ultra-deep waters off Amapa state, an area known as equatorial margin that it considers its most promising new oil frontier.
According to a securities filing, an oil-bearing interval was found in the Morpho well, marking a new discovery in block FZA-M-59, where it had already identified hydrocarbons in August.
* The oil found in August was of good quality, the firm said
* Petrobras CEO Magda Chambriard said last week that drilling of the first well in the region, also known as Foz do Amazonas, was expected to conclude in the coming days
* Petrobras recenty announced it will drill three new wells in the area starting in January to determine wether commercial production in the environmentally-sensitive region is viable
* Foz do Amazonas shares geological similarities with offshore Guyana, where ExxonMobil is developing huge fields
* Chambriard will hold a press conference later on Friday to detail the oil discovery, according to Petrobras
(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo and Fabio Teixeira; Editing by Isabel Teles)