BP Plans to Drill New Appraisal Well in Brazil's Bumerangue Block, Will Use Advanced Seismic Technology to Determine Well Location

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 21, Gordon Birrell, BP's Executive Vice President of Upstream, stated at the ROG.e 2026 conference held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that the company is continuing to appraise the Bumerangue oil and gas discovery in the pre-salt of the Santos Basin and plans to drill a new appraisal well. The specific location of the next appraisal well will be determined using advanced seismic technology, and BP plans to leverage Brazil's accumulated technical and engineering experience in developing oil and gas reservoirs with high carbon dioxide content. The specific spud date for the new well has not yet been announced.

Bumerangue is located approximately 404 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. BP drilled the 1-BP-13-SPS exploration well in the block in 2025, with an operating water depth of 2,372 meters and a total drilled depth of 5,855 meters. The discovery well encountered approximately 500 meters of hydrocarbon-bearing interval in high-quality pre-salt carbonate reservoirs, with a structural area exceeding 300 square kilometers. Preliminary analysis at the wellsite also found relatively high carbon dioxide content in the fluids, after which BP initiated laboratory fluid composition analysis and clarified that subsequent appraisal activities require regulatory approval.

BP currently still positions Bumerangue at the appraisal stage. Birrell stated that the company will decide how to advance the appraisal work based on subsequent data, and advanced seismic technology will be used to determine the location of the next appraisal well. In response to the high carbon dioxide characteristics shown by the discovery well, BP plans to leverage relevant technology and personnel experience developed in Brazil's pre-salt oilfield development for subsequent work.

The block is 100% held by BP, with Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. responsible for production sharing contract management. BP acquired the Bumerangue block in December 2022 in the first round of bidding under the standing offer for production sharing organized by Brazil's National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels; Brazil's National Council for Energy Policy had previously included the area in the exploration and development arrangement under the production sharing regime.

BP previously called Bumerangue the company's largest oil and gas discovery in 25 years. Public information in 2026 shows that the company's preliminary estimate for the discovery is approximately 8 billion barrels of liquid hydrocarbons in place. This figure is on an in-place resource basis, not recoverable reserves; the project still requires appraisal wells, fluid analysis, and further geological and engineering studies to determine resource scale and development plans.

Birrell also stated that BP plans to establish a large-scale oil and gas production center in Brazil. At this stage, the next clear engineering work for Bumerangue focuses on further reservoir appraisal, including determining the location of the new appraisal well, conducting subsequent drilling, and continuing to analyze high carbon dioxide reservoir conditions. BP has not yet officially announced the relevant development investment decision or commercial production timeline.