Petrobras (PBR) Soaring Today

I hold Petrobras (PBR) through my iShares Brazil ETF (EWZ); the stock is up 11% on news of a large reserves discovery - which in this day and age is a rarity. It's also light crude, not heavy which is a major bonus....

• Shares of Brazil's state oil company Petrobras soared on Thursday after it announced recoverable reserves at the light oil Tupi field between 5 billion and 8 billion barrels of oil and gas, making it the biggest in Brazil.
• "It's a giant one, without a hint of doubt. It's about twice the size of Roncador, Brazil's biggest discovery so far," said Caio Carvalhao, research associate with Cambridge Energy Research Association in Rio de Janeiro. Roncador has around 3 billion barrels of recoverable heavy oil reserves.
• Brazil's total proven reserves are around 12 billion barrels, mostly heavy oil. Petrobras produces around 1.8 million barrels of oil per day, meeting Brazil's gross petroleum needs. But it still needs to import some light crude to mix with local heavy crudes for refining.
• "If confirmed, the recoverable volumes of oil and gas will lift significantly the quantity of existing oil in Brazilian basins, putting Brazil among the countries with big reserves of oil and gas," the company said in a statement.

So I've talked today about 2 stocks in my iShares Brazil ETF (EWZ) - what exactly does this ETF hold? It's an interesting country ETF because unlike most countries it is DOMINATED by 2 companies - CVRD (RIO) and Petrobras (PBR)

You can see the full holdings of iShares Brazil ETF here

Essentially CVRD (RIO) is 24% and Petrobras (PBR) is 22%, so nearly half of the ETF is these 2 names - next come the 2 major non state owned banks, making up the next 11.5%. So nearly 60% of the ETF in 4 names. Something to keep in mind when you buy these country index ETFs... take a peak inside to see what they own.

Long all names above through iShares Brazil ETF; no personal position