Brazil's state-owned oil and gas giant Petrobras announced Tuesday the discovery of an oil field in the Espirito Santo basin.

     The discovery, which was made in a well called 4-GLF at a depth of 1,374 meters, is 60 km off the coast of Vitoria in the southeastern state of Espirito Santo.

     The company estimated that the new field may have a potential capacity of 150 million barrels, accounting for 1.3 percent of the country's total reserves.

     It will be put into operation very soon thanks to existing infrastructure in the field, the company added.

     The discovery was announced one day after Petrobras workers in the Campos basin started a five-day strike to demand a change in work shifts. The company said Tuesday that its oil production was back to normal and expected production not to be affected.

     Brazil's current production totals 1.9 million barrels of oil per day, and the Campos basin accounts for 80 percent of the production.