Petroleo Brasileiro SA said it started seismic surveys in the 8,000-acre Tusan block in the southern Persian Gulf.
The block is southwest of Qeshm Island and extends to the marine boundary with the northern emirates.
Petrobras said the work program calls for it to spend $32 million in 31/2 years and another $10 million if it opts for an 18-month extension. Two wells are required, the first of which must spud by July 14, 2006.
The Tusan contract, signed earlier this year, represents the company's return to the Middle East. Petrobras's international unit Braspetro operated in Iraq in the 1970s in a coventure with the former Mobil Oil Corp. in an exploratory block west of the Strait of Hormuz in Iran.
Braspetro also discovered giant Majnoon and Nahr Umr fields in Iraq. The changing political and security situations led foreign operators to walk away from their assets.
