Petrobras brings Brazil's new oil wealth onstream

By Denise Luna and Reese Ewing

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 1 (Reuters) - State-run energy company Petrobras on Friday lifted the first subsalt oil from the massive, ultra-deep, offshore Tupi field, an action Brazil's government hopes will launch a new era for Latin America's largest economy.

Petrobras (PETR4.SA)(PBR.N) shocked the oil world in November 2007 when it said the field contained up to 8 billion barrels of recoverable light oil and gas, which would make it the second-biggest oil find in 20 years.

The Tupi will not be the first subsalt oil produced off Brazil, but it will set the tone for development of the rest of the 200-km-wide subsalt band stretching 800 km down the coast.

If reserve estimates for the Tupi are confirmed, it would vault Brazil into the world's top 10 oil producing countries. The government plans to use the wealth generated by these ressources to transform Brazil into a developed country.

In September, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva helicoptered out and dipped his hands in the first subsalt oil produced at Petrobras' Juscelino Kubitschek offshore platform, named after a former president whose term was marked by economic progress and widespread optimism.

The oil from the Jubarte field off the coast of Espirito Santo came from depths of 1,375 meters (4,500 feet) -- no astonishing feat by oil industry standards. Lifting subsalt oil from the ultra-deep Tupi is an entirely different story.

The field lies 7,000 meters (23,000 ft) below the ocean surface, under 2,000 meters of corrosive salt at mind-numbing pressures and temperatures, 300 km offshore.

Although the government and Petrobras Chief Executive Jose Sergio Gabrielli say the technology and the will exist to profitably produce oil at these extremes, industry specialists are more skeptical.