Officials from Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy Corporation are celebrating the success of an oil field off the coast of Brazil.

The company says it has begun the first oil production from the field near Rio de Janeiro. More than 50 million barrels of recoverable oil are thought to be in the field, which is in about 300 feet of water.

Devon has a 60% stake in the field, while a Korean company holds the other 40% interest.

Devon’s senior vice president of exploration and production says the success of the field is the company’s first visible sign of work in the South American country. Stephen J. Hadden says company officials think the area holds potential, as Devon has interests in nine other prospects in the area.

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