State-owned Brazilian energy company Petrobras has broken new ground in the world of oil exploration - with plans for the first-ever floating oil terminal. The innovative new technological facility will allow the firm to refuel its tankers at high seas in a move that will greatly reduce its costs.

At present, crude oil is transported from offshore rigs to the coast, where a tanker then comes to fill it up. The advanced new system will change that, with the distance covered by oil transport vessels greatly reduced in accordance.

Dubbed the Transfer and Storage Offshore Unit, the new facility will allow the firm to store oil on the high seas and transfer it directly to export vessels. The terminal will be positioned on a vessel stationed close to the drilling rigs, with capacity to store up to two million barrels - the current daily production limit in Brazil.

Floating Oil Terminal

According to reports, the new unit is currently under construction in China and is expected to cost around $318 million (£201 million) to develop, with additional costs likely to be incurred in the chartering of the vessel. Once read, the facility will be positioned 55 miles (90 kilometres) off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, with officials expecting the first terminal to be operational from June 2014.

According to a statement released by Petrobas: "The project was developed due to the need for new logistical solutions to export Brazilian oil." The new technology could provide a major boost to the Brazilian economy, which is currently the sixth largest in the world.

Figures produced by the AFP, published in the Daily Telegraph today, indicate that production levels could surge from two million barrels a day to a figure closer to five million over the next eight years. This boost comes after the discovery of a huge offshore oil reserve in the region back in 2006.

It is estimated by the National Petroleum Agency that the 'pre-salt' reserves found in this region could hold over 100 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil, which could transform Brazil into one of the key market players in the world of oil drilling and exploration.

Image Copyright Azim Al Jabber Courtesy Wiki Commons