Brazil's prospects of becoming a leading oil producer increased yesterday when it emerged that a giant offshore field could be double the size of BP's discovery last week in the Gulf of Mexico.

巴西昨日宣布发现一个巨型海上油田，规模可能是上周英国石油(BP)墨西哥湾新发现的两倍，这增强了巴西成为领先产油国的前景。

Petrobras, the national oil company, reported that the Guará field contained the equivalent of 1.1bn to 2bn barrels of recoverable oil and gas. BP's Tiber field, which BP called a “giant” discovery last week, is unofficially estimated to contain 500m-1bn recoverable barrels.

巴西国家石油公司(Petrobras)宣布，Guara油田的可采储量为11亿至20亿桶油气。据非正式估计，上周被BP称为“巨型”发现的Tiber油田，可采储量为5亿至10亿桶。

The news from Petrobras pushed up the share prices of BG and Repsol, the UK and Spanish oil companies that are partners in developing Guará. The field could enter production as soon as 2012.

来自巴西国家石油公司的消息，推高了英国天然气集团(BG)和西班牙石油公司Repsol的股价。这两家公司均是开发Guara油田的合作伙伴。这座油田可能在2012年就能投产。

To reach Guará's oil the developers must drill 2km under the sea and through several more kilometers of rock and semi-liquid salt. The oil strikes at Guará and Tiber show the technological complexities and high costs in exploiting this century's new oil bonanzas. The Tiber well, the deepest ever drilled, is 9km beneath the seabed.

要想开采Guara的石油，勘探者必须在2千米深的水下作业，并进一步向下钻透数千米的岩层和半流质盐层。在Guara和Tiber发现巨大石油储量，显示出勘探本世纪新的大型油田的技术复杂性和高成本。Tiber油井位于海床以下9千米处，是有史以来钻探最深的油井。

The higher-than-expected estimate of Guará's size has raised hopes about the prospects for nearby offshore fields in Brazil. Petrobras has not released reserves estimates for several of them.

Guara的估计储量高于预期，这加大了人们对附近另一些巴西海上油田的希望。巴西国家石油公司尚未透露其中几处油田的储量估计。

The best indication of their potential come from the Tupi and Lara fields, part of the crescent of fields including Guará, which together hold an estimated 8-12bn barrels of recoverable oil, according to Petrobras, making them among the biggest oil strikes of recent decades.

有关这些油田潜在储量的最佳信号，来自Tupi和Lara油田，它们是包括Guara在内的半月形分布的一连串油田的一部分。据巴西国家石油公司称，这些油田的总储量估计有80至120亿桶可采石油，这让它们跻身于数十年来最大石油发现之列。

BG is a joint venture partner at Tupi. The company's shares rose 4 per cent to £10.95 ($18.13).

英国天然气集团是Tupi油田的合资开采伙伴。该公司股价上涨了4%，至10.95英镑（合18.13美元）。

Ten days ago Brasília proposed new regulations for the region where Guará is located.

10天前，巴西政府针对Guara所在地区提出了新规定。

These introduce production sharing agreements alongside the existing concessions system, with the aim of securing ownership over these potentially vast reserves.

除了现有的特许制，这些规定还引入了产量分成协议，旨在确保对巨大潜在储量的所有权。

The proposed changes have brought claims from the oil industry that they introduce unnecessary uncertainty and will deter investment.

拟议的变化引发了石油行业的异议，认为它们带来了不必要的不确定性，将阻碍投资。

译者/陈云飞