CNOOC Ltd., China's largest offshore oil and gas producer, announced on October 22 that it has won a 35-year production-sharing contract to develop a pre-salt oil discovery in Brazil's Libra oil field.

The company gained the bid as part of a consortium comprising Petrobras, Shell, Total SA and China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), according to CNOOC.

CNOOC will pay 1.5 billion Brazilian reals ($700 million) for a 10-percent share. The operator Petrobras will have a 40-percent stake, followed by Shell and Total with 20 percent each, and CNPC with 10 percent.

The Libra field is located in the Santos Basin, about 170 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The oil field has recoverable resources of between 8 and 12 billion barrels of oil and total gross peak oil production could reach 1.4 million barrels per day.