Fresh deepwater oil discovery off Brazil

Brazilian state-owned oil and gas giant Petrobras has made an oil discovery in a well located in the co-participated area of Sépia offshore Brazil. Steps have been taken to characterise the reservoir and measure the extent of the discovery.

Petrobras disclosed the oil discovery on Monday, explaining that the spudding of the well 4-BRSA-1386D-RJS – located in the northwestern part of the Sépia oil field, 250 km south of the city of Rio de Janeiro, under a water depth of 2,197 metres – was done on 31 July 2022, about three months after the signing of the contract for the Sépia transfer of rights (ToR) surplus consortium.

Furthermore, the Brazilian giant explaina that the oil-bearing interval was verified by means of electrical logs and fluid samples, which laboratory analyses will further characterise. According to Petrobras, the net oil column is “one of the thickest ever recorded in Brazil,” and the consortium will continue operations to characterise the conditions of the reservoirs found and verify the extent of the discovery.

As outlined by the company, the Sépia co-participated area is composed of the Sépia block, acquired by Petrobras through the transfer of rights contract, signed with the Brazilian government in 2010, and by the Sépia ToR surplus block, acquired in December 2021, in the 2^nd transfer-of-rights production sharing auction realized by the National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP).

Petrobras pointed out that the Sépia ToR surplus block was purchased by a consortium comprising Petrobras as the operator with a 30 per cent interest and its partners: TotalEnergies (28 per cent), QatarEnergy (21 per cent) and Petronas (21 per cent), with Pre-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) as manager.

In a separate statement, France’s TotalEnergies confirmed the oil discovery in the Pedunculo well within the Sépia co-participated area, operated by Petrobras with a stake of 51.9 per cent where the French player holds 19.2 per cent net interest, alongside QatarEnergy (14.4 per cent) and Petronas (14.4 per cent). TotalEnergies highlights that the Sépia shared reservoir currently produces 170,000 barrels of oil per day.

David Mendelson, Senior Vice President, Americas at TotalEnergies Exploration & Production, remarked: “This is excellent news, just a few months after concluding our entry into the world-class Sépia field in Brazil, where we are already benefitting from the production performance from the first FPSO. 

“The resources confirmed by the Pedunculo well appear to exceed pre-drill expectations and add to the potential for future development of the area. Thanks to their exceptional productivity and the innovative technologies used in their developments, these resources fully fit in TotalEnergies’ low-cost, low-emission oil portfolio.”

When it comes to Petrobras’ other recent discoveries in Brazil, it is worth noting that after the Brazilian giant completed the drilling of a wildcat well in the pre-salt Campos Basin following an oil discovery, the firm took steps to establish the full potential of this play in July 2022.