A consortium led by Petroleo Brasileiro SA had landed a license to develop the largest oil discovery in Brazil under terms that had exceeded projections. Because of such grant of power to develop the oil find, the share prices of Petrobras surged in early day trading.

Petrobras, together with partners Royal Dutch Shell Plc, CNOOC Ltd and Total SA as well as the China National Petroleum Corp, had pledged to the government the minimum 41.65% of profit oil, or barrels remaining after coverage of all the costs. The said contract is for 35 years and would be off the coast in the Atlantic Ocean. The companies would be signing the agreement after a payment of BRL15 billion or USD6.9 billion.

Libra is the first of the many subsea prospects known as pre-salt. It would utilize a production sharing model that would allow Petrobras to become the main operator of the new projects especially with the 30% stare requirment. Brazil, for its part, increased its shareholdings in the oil industry under then President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, after the announcement of the oil find with an estimated 50 billion barrels under a layer of salt two miles underground.