MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Petrobras and partners make major oil discovery at Sépia offshore field

Petrobras as operator has a 30% interest, while partners TotalEnergies holds 28%, QatarEnergy 21% and Petronas the remaining 21%

Petrobras and partners have made an oil discovery in the north-west of the Sépia oil field, offshore Brazil, some 250 kilometers from Rio do Janeiro, drilling the 4-BRSA-1386D-RJS (Pedunculo) well. The well, which was spudded in late July 2022, was drilled at a water depth of around 2,200m.

According to Petrobras, the oil-bearing interval of the discovery was verified using electrical logs and fluid samples, which will be characterized further by laboratory analyses.

However Petrobras claims that the net oil column in the discovery made by the Pedunculo well is one of the thickest ever seen in Brazil. Petrobras and partners are expected to confirm the extent and potential of the discovery

The well is located inside the Sépia Coparticipated Area, which covers the Sépia Transfer of Rights (ToR) contract in which Petrobras has 100% and the Sepia ToR Surplus Production Sharing Contract.

The Sépia ToR surplus block was purchased by a consortium comprising Petrobras as the operator with a 30 percent interest and its partners – TotalEnergies which holds 28 percent, QatarEnergy holding 21 percent, and Petronas which holds the remaining 21 percent. Pre-Sal Petróleo is the manager.

The Sépia Co-participated Area is operated by Petrobras, with a stake of 51.9 percent. TotalEnergies holds 19.2 percent net interest, alongside QatarEnergy and Petronas with 14.4 percent each. The Sépia shared reservoir is currently producing 170,000 barrels of oil per day.

TotalEnergies exploration and production Americas senior vice president David Mendelson said: “This is excellent news, just a few months after concluding our entry into the world-class Sépia-filed in Brazil, where we are already benefitting from the production performance from the first FPSO.

“The resources confirmed by the Pedunculo well appear to exceed pre-drill expectations and add to the potential for future development of the area. Thanks to their exceptional productivity and the innovative technologies used in their developments, these resources fully fit in TotalEnergies’ low-cost, low-emission oil portfolio.”