BP’s deepwater oil & gas find offshore Brazil ‘largest in 25 years’

August 4, 2025, by Dragana Nikše

The U.K.-headquartered energy giant BP has made an oil and gas discovery at a prospect in Brazil’s Santos Basin.

As disclosed by BP, exploration well 1-BP-13-SPS was drilled at the Bumerangue block, located 404 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro, in a water depth of 2,372 meters. The UK player, which secured the rights to the block in 2022, holds a 100% interest in it, with Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. as the production sharing contract (PSC) manager.

The UK player explained that the well was drilled to a total depth of 5,855 meters. It intersected the reservoir about 500 meters below the crest of the structure and penetrated an estimated 500 meters gross hydrocarbon column in a high-quality pre-salt carbonate reservoir with an areal exceeding 300 square kilometres.

Gordon Birrell, BP’s Executive Vice President for Production & Operations, said: “We are excited to announce this significant discovery at Bumerangue, bp’s largest in 25 years. This is another success in what has been an exceptional year so far for our exploration team, underscoring our commitment to growing our upstream. Brazil is an important country for bp, and our ambition is to explore the potential of establishing a material and advantaged production hub in the country.”

The results from the rig-site analysis indicate elevated levels of carbon dioxide (CO2). A laboratory analysis will now be undertaken to further characterize the reservoir and fluids discovered, providing additional insight into the block’s potential. Subject to regulatory approval, further appraisal activities are also planned.

Bumerangue is BP’s tenth discovery in 2025, following Beryl and Frangipani in Trinidad, Fayoum 5 and El King 5 in Egypt, Far South in the Gulf of America, Hasheem in Libya, and Alto de Cabo Frio Central in Brazil.

Additional discoveries in Namibia and Angola were made through Azule Energy, BP’s 50-50 joint venture with Eni. Eni and BP also recently signed a deal with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) to initiate exploration activities in the Mediterranean.

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Exploration & Production

The discovery is in line with the oil and gas giant’s agenda to grow its global upstream production to 2.3-2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2030, with the capacity to increase production out to 2035. As for Brazilian plans, in addition to the Bumerangue prospect drilling campaign this year, an exploration well is planned for the Tupinambá block in 2026.