Petrobras cleared to start production at Buzios field

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras said on Friday it received clearance from the oil and gas regulator ANP to start production from its Buzios field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is officially known, had declared the field, which was formerly known as Franco, commercially viable in December 2013. Three-dimensional seismic studies and 11 wells have been completed in order to define the dimension of the reservoir. The field accounts for the bulk of the oil the company received in its 5-billion-barrel oil-rights agreement with the Brazilian government in 2010. Buzio is estimated by Petrobras to hold more than 3 billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas. (Reporting by Reese Ewing; Editing by Leslie Adler)