Brazil's state-owned oil and gas company Petrobras has announced the discovery of more natural gas reserves in the Espirito Santo Basin in the nation's southeastern coast.

In a press statement released on Wednesday, Petrobras said the discovery was made through an oil well that has been drilled by the company, and sandy reserves saturated with gas, 130 meters thick, were found at a depth of 3,378 meters.

The company pointed out that the discovery of these new reserves in the north of Camarupim Field confirms the large depth of the gas reserves, "which should result in an increase in recoverable volumes of gas in the area."

The well is being drilled nearly 37 km off the Espirito Santo coast, at a water depth of 763 meters. Petrobras, with a 65-percent stake, operates the well in partnership with El Paso Corporation, which holds the remaining 35 percent.

The commercial viability of Camarupim was declared in late 2006. It was discovered with the drilling of another well, which detected an initial thickness of about 112 meters of gas-containing sandy reserves.