Date added: 22nd January, 2009 at 10:41

Exxon Mobil has announced the discovery of more oil off the coast of Brazil.

The US energy giant revealed this week that it made the find near Rio de Janeiro in the sub-salt Azuloa field of the Santos basin.

It did not estimate how much oil is in the area but it is close to numerous major oil discoveries, such as Tupi and Iara, which are currently being drilled by Petrobras.

The find is part of the BM-S-22 block, which is considered to be one of the last remaining big oil sources in the world, containing billions of barrels of oil.

Last week, Petrobras - a Brazilian, state-owned company - announced that it had broken its record for the number of barrels of crude oil exported in a day.

During December, the firm averaged 620,000 barrels in a 24-hour period - 19.2 million for the month.

The majority of the oil, 63 per cent, was exported to the US.