Petrobras said it is now looking at drawing up a budget plan to finance production from the potential wells that were discovered "in the last few years."

Newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo reported on Sunday that the find was the largest since the sub-salt discoveries in 2006, and that Petrobras could extract up to 20 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, equivalent to one third of total Brazilian production.

According to O Estado, the find could help deliver the "cheap energy shock" to Brazil promised by Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, his vision to reduce the cost of natural gas by up to 50pc and "reindustrialize" the country.