Petrobras Makes New Oil Discovery in Gulf of Mexico, Opens New Wind Farm in Brazil

Brazil energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro, or Petrobras, has made a new oil discovery deep in the Gulf of Mexico.

Located several hundred miles south New Orleans, the discovery is at a depth of 7,750 feet in the Gulf's Walker Ridge concession area, according to a company press release published Thursday. It is not immediately known how big the discovery is, but further exploration will determine how much oil will be recoverable.

Statoil is the operator with a 35-percent interest. Petrobras América Inc. also has 35 stake, while Ecopetrol America and OOGC have a 20% and a 10% interest, respectively, according to the company.

Petrobras also announced this week that its first wind farm, located in Rio Grande do Norte, Northeastern Brazil, is fully operational.

The Mangue Seco Wind Farm has a capacity of 104 megawatts that is enough to supply a population of 350,000 people, according to the company in a statement.

Petrobras officially started up its Mangue Seco Wind Farm on Nov. 1 by bringing online its Juruti wind power plant -- one of four wind power plants that comprise the complex. The other plants -- Potiguar, Cabugi and Mangue Seco -- were brought on stream between August and September.

First auctioned in 2009, the project's original drafted plans predicted the wind power plant be online by July 2012, but the energy company was able to advance the launch date by several months, it said.

Power from the wind farm will be sold to Brazil's electric grid for 20 years.