Another important discovery was the Saffānīyah offshore field in the Persian Gulf.
Back in the mid-1990s, the platform was towed to the offshore field.
An oil consortium is going ahead with a third large offshore field east of the island.
As recently as 2004 Cantarell, the country's main offshore field, produced 2.1m barrels per day (b/d) of crude.
Israel, which has begun gradually tapping the gas, began production in a big offshore field called Tamar on March 30.
The reason, they say, is that it often takes seven years before a new offshore field begins producing.
For example, development of a remote but promising offshore field in Nova Scotia, Deep Panuke, has been delayed.
Guy Cantwell, a spokesman for Transocean, the operator of the rig at the offshore field controlled by Chevron, declined to comment.
Its leaders depend on Saudi goodwill for oil supplies, which come from a shared offshore field administered by the Saudis and which provides the vast majority of the government's revenue.
The ruling by Judge Vlamir Costa Magalhães, issued late Friday night, adds to Chevron's woes in Brazil, which began last November when oil was found to be leaking from an offshore field controlled by Chevron.
These include a second refinery at Come By Chance (a misnomer, it is to be hoped) and the building of a vast production platform for the new offshore field.
