Brazil: New oil discovery announced offshore

Brazil’s national oil company, Petrobras, and its partners announced a new oil discovery in the northwest of the Sépia field, about 250 kilometers south of the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

The companies are expected to continue operations to characterize the discovery conditions and confirm their extent.

The discovery was made through the drilling of the Pedunculo 4-BRSA-1386D-RJS well. It was opened in late July 2022 and was drilled to a depth of about 2,200 meters.

As Petrobras indicated, the discovery range was verified through electrical logs and fluid samples, which will be further characterized when laboratory analysis is performed.

The national oil company stated that the oil column in the discovery made by the Pedunculo well is one of “the thickest ever seen in Brazil”.

The Brazilian national oil company and its partners are expected to continue operations to characterize the discovery conditions and confirm its extent.

The oil discovery is located northeast of the Sépia Co-participation Area, composed of the Sépia block, acquired by Petrobras through the transfer of rights contract signed with the Brazilian government in 2010, and the excess Sépia ToR block, acquired in December 2021.

At that time, Petrobras (30%), TotalEnergies (28%), Petronas (21%), and QatarEnergy (21%) took over the Sépia ToR Production Sharing Contract with Pre-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) as manager.

Meanwhile, the participation in the co-participation area is 51% for Petrobras, 19.2% for TotalEnergies, and 14.4% for QatarEnergy and Petronas, respectively.

TotalEnergies’ senior vice president of exploration and production in the Americas, David Mendelson, said, “This is excellent news, just months after completing our entry into the world-class Sépia field in Brazil, where we are already benefiting from production performance with the first FPSO.”

“The resources confirmed by the Pedunculo well appear to exceed pre-drill expectations and add to the future development potential of the area.

“Thanks to their exceptional productivity and the innovative technologies used in their developments, these resources fit fully into TotalEnergies’ low-cost, low-emissions oil portfolio,” he assured.

For his part, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Chairman and CEO of QatarEnergy, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, stressed, “We are encouraged by this discovery, which is the result of strategic cooperation with renowned partners in our effort to unlock more global energy resources as part of our comprehensive growth strategy.”

Qatar Energy said that operations would continue to characterize the discovered reservoir conditions and verify the extent of the discovery by conducting well tests.

The shared Sepia block currently produces 170,000 barrels of oil per day.

With information from Rio Negro