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BG GROUP has made another large discovery of oil and natural gas in the Santos Basin area off the coast of Brazil, less than a week after the previous discovery in the area, Guara.

BG Group owns 30% of the Santos Basin pre-salt BM-S-9 concession area, with Repsol owning 20% and operator Petrobras with the remaining 45%. The Abare West well is around 290 km off the coast of Sao Paulo state and 50 km west of the Guara well. It is at a depth of 2163 m and will now undergo full analysis before a forward plan is made.

BG Group chief executive Frank Chapman says: "Abare West further extends an outstanding sequence for BG Group and partners operating in the Santos Basin, with eight discoveries in three years."

BG Group has interests in five concessions in the deep water Santos Basin, of which it operates one. Petrobras operates the remaining four. In the shallow water area BG Group operates a further two concessions and has one onshore concession in the Sao Francisco Basin in Minas Gerais State.