Shares in BG Group shot up this morning after Brazil’s Petrobras discovered potentially the biggest oil field to be found in 30 years.

BG, with 30 per cent stake in the field, saw its share price rise 5.16 per cent in early trading on the news.

Last night Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency said that a field in the Santos Basin off the coast of Rio de Janeiro could contain 33 billion barrels of oil, which would make it five times the size of the giant Tupi oil field, discovered last November.

However, Haroldo Lima, the director of the agency, and Petrobras said that more information was needed before they could confirm the discovery.

Crude oil prices hit an all-time high yesterday as China’s diesel imports increased by 50 per cent to 490,000 tonnes last month, up from 327,753 tonnes in February. Prices reached $112.48 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a gain of 17 per cent for the year to date.

Supplies were also hit when Petroleos Mexicanos shut another oil export terminal on the Pacific coast, the fourth Mexican terminal to close in the last two days.

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