Brazil: New oil reserves found in Campos Basin
Samples of the findings will be lab tested for further accuracy regarding their quality, Petrobras explained in a statement
Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras announced this week the discovery of an oil reservoir in the Campos Basin, off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. As per initial assessments, the oil found is of excellent quality.
The 4-BRSA-1403D-RJS exploratory well is located in the post-salt area of the Southwest Tartaruga Verde block, 108 kilometers off the coast of Campos dos Goitacazes, at a water depth of 734 meters.
The drilling of this well has already been completed, with an oil-bearing interval confirmed through electrical profiles, gas indications, and fluid sampling, Petrobras said in a statement.
Samples of the material would be sent for laboratory analysis, for the conditions of the reservoirs and fluids to be characterized for more accuracy, the company added.
The Southwest Tartaruga Verde block was acquired in September 2018, in the 5th Production Sharing Round, with the state-owned company Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA) as manager. Petrobras is the operator of the block with a 100% stake.
Unlike the pre-salt, which accounts for about 80% of all oil produced in the country, the post-salt reservoirs are so named because the oil found there lies beneath the seabed, before the salt layer, i.e., at shallower depths than the pre-salt.
As explained by PPSA, the Campos Basin was the first discovery, with great potential for exploration and the challenge of reaching deep waters. The formation took place 100 million years ago, from the separation of the South American and African continents, becoming a type of natural landfill formed by sediments released into the Atlantic Ocean over that time.
The area covers approximately 100,000 square kilometers, extending from Espírito Santo, near Vitória, to Arraial do Cabo, on the northern coast of Rio de Janeiro. (Source: Agencia Brasil)