BP announces its largest oil and gas discovery in 25 years offshore Brazil

BP on Aug. 4 announced the Bumerangue oil and gas discovery in Brazil's Santos basin, featuring a 500-meter hydrocarbon column and expected to be the company's largest find in 25 years.

The discovery, located in subsalt rock in the ultra-deepwater of Santos Basin, will now be subject to laboratory analysis, and further appraisal drilling is expected, the company said in a statement. The company identified "elevated levels of carbon dioxide" at the formation.

According to assessments by the Agencia Nacional de Petroleo, Gas Natural e Biocombustiveis (ANP) made prior to the BP discovery, the Bumerangue prospect hosts 2.5 billion barrels in place with a chance of geological success of 13%. Considering the main prospect plus the upside volumes, the amount could be roughly 4.4 billion barrels.

The well was spudded on May 25, 2025, and was the first well drilled to test the Bumerangue prospect in the Bumerangue PSC block. The well is considered of “high impact” as it has the potential to de-risk a large area of the subsalt in the southern region of the Santos Basin.

BP Energy initiated the drilling operation of the well, identified as 1-BP-13-SPS (1BP13) New Field Wildcat, to test the Bumerangue prospect in the Bumerangue PSC block on May 25, 2025. The operation was being conducted by the Valaris Renaissance drill ship

BP Energy submitted a request to the Brazilian Environment Authority (IBAMA) for a drilling permit to explore the Bumerangue prospect in September 2023. The Bumerangue block was awarded to BP in 2022, with a contract designating 80% of revenue as "cost oil," BP said.

The well is located in the northern portion of the Bumerangue Block, which is located in the southern region of Santos Basin, around 380 km south of Rio de Janeiro.

"This is another success in what has been an exceptional year so far for our exploration team, underscoring our commitment to growing our upstream," upstream Vice President Gordon Birrell said.

BP has long voiced hopes of a bigger role in Brazil's prolific subsalt oil plays, where it is a relatively minor player, particularly by comparison with rival Shell, for which the country is a backbone of its production.

"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," Birrell added.

BP Energy is the operator of the Bumerangue PSC block with 100% working interest.

The super-giant subsalt fields in the Santos Basin currently produce about 80% of the country's output, according to S&P Global Energy. Other operators like Shell and TotalEnergies are also actively involved in the area.

In March, Shell approved the development of the Gato do Mato subsalt field in the Santos Basin, with first oil expected to be pumped in 2029. The project had been delayed repeatedly after being discovered in the late 2010s.

Shell estimated that the Gato do Mato field contains about 370 million barrels of recoverable reserves, and plans to install a floating production, storage and offloading vessel, or FPSO, capable of producing about 120,000 b/d.