The discovery of potentially huge oil and gas fields under the ocean has propelled the Brazil state-owned Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras (NYSE:PZE), into the top six-largest companies in the world. Today it temporarily passed General Electric (NYSE:GE)for the No. 5 spot, before falling back to No. 6 at the end of the trading day.
Petrobras rose as high as 3.9 percent today, to reach a market value at $313.8 billion. It fell back to a market value of $307.8 billion, just below General Electric's $308.9 billion value.
The Tupi field, the first one found, has an estimated 8 billion barrels of oil, while another field nearby, which I've heard called two different names: either Carioca or Juniper, could hold up to 33 billion barrels of oil. There has also been substantial gas found as well.
In the first quarter alone, Petrobras has enjoyed a 68 percent increase in profits, generated by rising oil prices.
If the projections for the new oil fields hold up, and the company finds more on its coasts, they could be a huge story over the next couple decades, possibly growing to be the largest company in the world.
The new fields are being found because of new methodology that allows oil and gas to be discovered beneath heavy salt deposits.
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Um, Gary: you screwed up the stock name of Petrobras. It is not PZE, it is PBR. PBR is the stock that has been growing in such a huge way, especially after splitting 2:1 on 5/8/08. Between the time of the split and now--5/21/08--the stock has gone up, conservatively, $15 per share.
Have a nice day.
Posted by: Richard | May 22, 2008 4:32 AM | Permalink to Comment