Petrobras sees sub-salt lifting costs economical

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-controlled oil giant Petrobras (PETR4.SA)(PBR.N) said on Friday that per-barrel lifting costs for sub-salt oil reserves off the coast of Brazil would be "extremely economical."

"Per-barrel lifting costs for the pilot production, I am told, are extremely economical," Antonio Carlos Pinto, Petrobras's manager of project conception, told reporters.

Petrobras has invested $1 billion drilling 20 wells into the sub-salt layer of Brazil's coast since 2005 and has encountered large quantities of high-grade light oil and natural gas.

(Reporting by Reese Ewing; editing by Stuart Grudgings)