Brazilian giant carrying out assessment of recent oil discovery

Brazilian state-owned giant Petrobras has completed the drilling of a wildcat well, located in the pre-salt Campos Basin offshore Brazil, after finding an oil accumulation. The work is now being done to establish the full potential of this play.

At the beginning of April 2022, Petrobras revealed that it had found a new oil accumulation in a wildcat well in the Alto de Cabo Frio Central block, situated in the southern portion of the pre-salt Campos Basin.

In an update last week, the Brazilian player informed that it had completed a Drill Stem Test (DST) on the 1-BRSA-1383A-RJS wildcat well – Alto de Cabo Frio Central Noroeste – in the pre-salt of the southern portion of the Campos Basin. The company explains that its new discovery, announced on 1 April, is located 230 km away from the city of Rio de Janeiro-RJ, at a water depth of 1,833 meters.

Petrobras says that the DST evaluated a thick interval of pre-salt carbonate reservoir rocks and confirmed good productivity. In addition, as oil samples were collected during the test, they will be subsequently characterised by laboratory analyses, according to the firm.

Furthermore, Petrobras points out that this outcome shows that the consortium’s strategy of maximising the use of the data and of applying new solutions is bearing fruit by allowing for the real-time processing of the acquired data as well as quick and safe decision-making. The consortium will continue its activities in the Alto de Cabo Frio Central block, aiming to assess the dimensions of the new accumulation.

Petrobras acquired the Alto de Cabo Frio Central block in October 2017, during the third bidding round of the National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), under the Production Sharing regime, having Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) as its manager. As the operator of the block, Petrobras holds a 50 per cent stake, while its partner, BP, has the remaining 50 per cent interest in this block. 

When it comes to Petrobras’ other activities in Brazil, the state-owned giant confirmed a few days ago that an FPSO vessel, destined for its revitalisation project off Brazil, left the Cosco Qidong shipyard in China and started the journey to Brazil.

Prior to reaching the Brazilian waters and its new home, the vessel is expected to make a few stops on the way to its final destination.