UK-based BP, along with its partners Total, Petrobras and Petrogal, has secured exploration rights for eight deepwater blocks offshore of Brazil, in the Brazilian National Petroleum Agency’s (ANP’s) 11th bid round.
BP and its co-partners will explore concession blocks FZA-M-57, FZA-M-59, FZA-M-86, FZA-M-88, FZA-M-125 and FAZ-M-127 in the Foz do Amazonas basin, BAR-M-346 in the Barreirinhas basin and POT-M-764 in the Potiguar basin.
The British energy firm will be the operator, with a 70% stake in block FZA-M-59, and a 50% stake in block BAR-M-346.
The companies are now anticipated to work with the ANP to finalise the awards.
BP will take part in signing the contracts, which is expected to be held in August 2013, through its Brazilian subsidiary BP Energy do Brasil.
BP Exploration executive vice president, Mike Daly, said the result will increase the company’s frontier exploration exposure along Brazil’s equatorial margin.
"We look forward to a successful exploration programme working with our partners Total, Petrobras and Petrogal," Daly added.
BP Brazil regional president, Guillermo Quintero, said: "It reaffirms our long-term partnership with Brazil, expanding our upstream portfolio to 22 E&P concessions in seven different basins, in addition to our biofuels, lubricants, aviation and marine fuel businesses."
In 2011, BP re-entered the Brazilian upstream acquiring interests in ten blocks from Devon Energy and the following farm-in to four Petrobras-operated deepwater blocks in the Brazilian equatorial margin in 2012.
In August 2012, Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras and BP announced an oil discovery in a deepwater well located in the Ceara basin offshore of Brazil.
Image: Barreirinhas Basin. Photo courtesy of Agência Nacional do Petróleo.
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