OREANDA-NEWS. April 7, 2011. OGX invests more in Brazil than any other private oil and gas company and closes 2010 with a strong cash position of approximately BRL  4.8 billion

OGX, an oil and gas company which is part of the EBX Group, owned by entrepreneur Eike Batista, closed 2010 with investments of  BRL  2.5 billion in its onshore and offshore drilling activities, which included seven drilling rigs and more than 5,000 people working on our behalf including outsourced personnel. This amount includes drilling of wells, mobilization of rigs and various drill-stem tests.

Since 2007, when the Company was formed, it has invested more than BRL  4.6 billion in E&P in Brazil. This amount includes the BRL  1.5 billion paid as subscription bonus for the ANP (National Agency for Oil, Natural Gas and Bio-fuels) auction held in 2007 and some BRL  3.1 billion for the exploratory campaign begun in August 2009.

The Company ended the year with a strong cash position of approximately BRL  4.8 billion (USD  2.9 billion), reflecting its ability to manage costs efficiently, especially at a time when the drilling campaign is being ramped up and the organizational structure strengthened, as the production phase approaches.

According to the CEO of OGX, Paulo Mendonca, 2010 was a year of important conquests for the company, with the success of the drilling campaign and the identification of extensive accumulations in the Campos, Santos and Parnaiba Basins, which revealed significant potential for the exploration portfolio, especially in shallow water. “With nine drilling rigs at our disposal in 2011, we are also ready to begin another exploration cycle in the relatively uncharted Espirito Santo and Para-Maranhao Basins, as well as initiating seismic studies in five recently acquired blocks in Colombia”, emphasized Mendonca.

For OGX Production Director, Reinaldo Belotti, having contracted all the essential equipment from globally renowned suppliers, and completed the drilling of the first production well as well as concluding the drill-stem tests, the company is well on the way to starting production in the third quarter of 2011. “The success of the drill-stem test in a horizontal well recently carried out at Waimea, where we will begin our production, surpassed our expectations. We are anxious to initiate the extended well test, which marks the start of production and, eventually, the commercialization of our resources”, commented Belotti.

OGX will continue to drill new appraisal wells like the extensions, especially in the Campos Basin. It will also initiate drilling in the Para-Maranhao Basins in this first half of the year, and in the Espirito Santo in the second half of 2011 (this in partnership with the operator Perenco), which are areas that may contribute significantly to the success of this exploration campaign. In parallel, the Company this year will also obtain seismic data for some of its blocks in Colombia, effectively beginning its international operations.