FACTBOX: Brazil's Petrobras draws first oil from Tupi field

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras on Friday began lifting the first subsalt crude from the massive Tupi field, the windfall from which the government hopes will help Brazil join the elite club of developed nations.

Following are some details about the Tupi field, believed to hold between 5 billion and 8 billion barrels of light crude, and its planned development:

* Petrobras (PETR4.SA)(PBR.N) began finding oil and gas under the ultra-deep subsalt layer off the coast of southeastern Brazil in 2005.

* Petrobras partner BG Group (BG.L) announced the consortium had found oil and gas in Tupi in October 2006.

* Petrobras made its first estimate on recoverable reserves in November 2007, saying Tupi held a shocking 5 billion to 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent. That would make it the largest field in the so-called subsalt basin off Brazil's southern coast and the biggest deep-water find in history.

* Brazil's existing proven oil and gas reserves stand at roughly 14 billion barrels equivalent, almost all of which is high-sulfur, heavy crude, around 18 API, or lower, that comes from the Campos Basin.

* Tupi and several other recent subsalt discoveries come from the little-explored Santos Basin to the south of the Campos Basin.

* The Tupi oil is intermediate grade, sweet crude at 28-30 API. It also has high levels of paraffin, which could make it hard to lift from great depths if it is not heated. Some parts of the subsalt layer lie 7,000 meters (23,000 ft) below the ocean surface.

* Production from subsalt fields should end Brazil's long-standing need to import light crude from Africa to mix in its domestic heavy crude in local refineries.