BPRL and Videocon find new light crude oil off Brazil coast

Discovery in BM-SEAL-11 exploration block is one of several in recent years in an area believed to hold more than 1 billion barrels of recoverable oil

A consortium led by Videocon Industries Ltd and Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has discovered new light crude oil in the Sergipe basin off Brazil's Northeast coast.

The discovery in the BM-SEAL-11 exploration block is one of several in recent years in an area believed to hold more than 1 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

The consortium partners in a securities filing last month had said that drilling in a well on the Farfan prospect found new light crude oil as well as natural gas. It expects to start producing oil in the area in 2018.

Petrobras owns 60% of BM-SEAL-11 and is the operator, with the rest being owned by IBV Brasil SA, a 50-50 joint venture between Videocon and BPRL Ventures NV, a unit of the upstream arm of state-run oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd.