British oil company BP Energy announced on Monday (4) the discovery of an oil reservoir in pre-salt of the Santos Basin, on the coast of Rio de Janeiro. The well, in the boomerang block, is at a depth of 5,855 meters. It is the company’s biggest discovery in 25 years.
BP Executive Vice President of Production and Operations, Gordon Birrell, classified the discovered as significant. “We are excited to announce this significant discovery in boomerang, the largest in BP in 25 years,” he celebrated.
Also according to the executive, the intention of the oil multinational is “Establish one hub [centralização] significant and advantageous production in the country ”.
The 1-BP-13 exploratory well of the boomerang block is 404 kilometers from the coast of Rio de Janeiro. For comparison, it is almost the distance between the cities of Rio and São Paulo (417 km).
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According to BP, drilling crossed a column of hydrocarbons (organic compounds) in a “high quality” pre-salt reservoir extended greater than 300 km² ─ similar area to the extension of the city of Fortaleza (313 km²).
The company reported that the first results of probe analysis indicate high levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂), one of the greenhouse gases when released into the atmosphere. The company will make new evaluations to better characterize the potential of the boomerang block.
The pre-salt, reservoirs of 5,000 to 7,000 meters deep, are the main source of oil known in the country, responsible for 78.8% of all productionsecond more recent data (June) of the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), regulatory agency of the oil industry, linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
Three years for discovery
The British multinational holds 100% participation in the block, auctioned in December 2022 in auction promoted by ANP. For the signed tab contract with the Brazilian government, British oil company BP Energy has pledged to give in to the Union-on behalf of the state pre-ball SA (PPSA) ─ 5.9% of surplus oil (balance after payment of costs).
BP also participates in the oil exploration in eight sea blocks, being an operator in four of them. The next planned exploration campaign is at the Tupinambá block, also in the pre-salt of Santos, in 2026. Area was auctioned at anp auctionwith a bid of R $ 7.04 million in 2023.
In Brazil since 1957, BP has been operating in oil and natural gas exploration segments, gas supply, biofuels production and bioenergy, aviation and maritime fuel, lubricants (castrol) and solar energy.
BP has a participation in the GNA II thermoelectric plant, the largest natural gas thermoelectric plant in Latin America, located in the port of Açu, in São João da Barra (RJ). The structure was Inaugurated last Monday (28)with the presence of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Name change
Until the early 2000s, the company was called British Petroleum. THE BP BP Energy refers to the concept Beyond Petroleum (In addition to oil), indicating that the company operates in other energy areas.
In the first half of the year 2010, the company gained international negative prominence because of leakage on a oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, North America, which lasted almost three months to contain. The company pledged to pay billionaire compensation to affected fishermen.
