Petrobras makes ultra-deepwater oil discovery in exploration well in Brazil’s Equatorial Margin
(WO) – Petrobras has discovered an accumulation of oil in ultra-deep waters of the Potiguar Basin, in the Anhangá exploration well on concession POT-M-762_R15. The 1-BRSA-1390-RNS (Anhangá) well is offshore between Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte, about 190 km from Fortaleza and 250 km from Natal, at a water depth of 2,196 m in the Brazilian Equatorial Margin.
This is the second oil discovery in the Potiguar basin in 2024 and was preceded by proof of the presence of hydrocarbons in the Pitu Oeste well in the BM-POT-17 concession, 24 km from Anhangá. These oil discoveries still require further assessment. Petrobras is the operator of both concessions and holds a 100% stake.
Brazil’s Equatorial Margin represents an unexplored frontier that could ensure global energy demand during the energy transition. According to Petrobras, the new campaign was executed without any safety or environmental incidents.
In addition to its activities in the Brazilian Equatorial Margin, Petrobras acquired new blocks in the Pelotas basin in southern Brazil, and stakes in three exploration blocks in São Tomé and Príncipe, a country on the west coast of Africa, in 2023.
The confirmation of oil-bearing Albian-age turbidite reservoirs is “unprecedented” in the Potiguar basin and was carried out through electrical profiles and oil samples, which will later be characterized through laboratory analysis.
Petrobras will continue exploration activities in the POTM-762_R15 concession, with the aim of assessing the quality of the reservoirs, the characteristics of the oil and the technical-commercial viability of the accumulation.
Recent exploration success in Guyana and Suriname corroborates the importance of Petrobras continuing its campaign in the Brazilian Equatorial Margin basins.
The company intends to invest $7.5 billion in exploration by 2028, of which $ 3.1 billion in the Equatorial Margin, which stretches from Amapá to Rio Grande do Norte. It plans to drill 50 new exploration wells in the period, 16 of them in the Equatorial Margin region.
