BP expects to begin appraisal activities for its largest find in a quarter-century—Bumerangue—in early 2027 and is evaluating potential development concepts.
In August, BP announced its deepwater Bumerangue prospect offshore Brazil had found an estimated 500-m gross hydrocarbon column. On 30 October, BP said initial laboratory and pressure gradient analysis of the high-quality carbonate rock confirmed the presence of about a 1,000-m gross hydrocarbon column, including about a 100-m gross oil column and 900-m gross liquids-rich gas-condensate column at the pre-salt well, located in the Santos Basin.
BP said it is carrying out laboratory testing and other analysis to determine fluid characteristics, gas-to-oil and condensate-to-gas ratios, and an estimate of in-place volumes. The operator is already planning appraisal activities for the deepwater discovery and expects those to begin in early 2027, subject to obtaining regulatory approval.
“We are still in the exploration phase for Bumerangue; however, initial results and analysis are extremely encouraging as they indicate a very large hydrocarbon column and a significant volume of liquids in the reservoir,” Gordon Birrell, BP’s executive vice president for production and operations, said in a news release. “We have a team in place and are accelerating work on proposed appraisal activities and potential development concepts, which will include the potential for an early production system.”
The Valaris Renaissance drilled the 1-BP-13-SPS exploration well to 5,855-m total depth in a water depth of 2,372 m. The reservoir the well intersected has an areal extent exceeding 300 km2.
Onsite analysis indicated elevated levels of carbon dioxide, which BP said it believes it can manage.
BP operates the Bumerangue block with 100% interest, and Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. is the production-sharing contract manager. BP won the block in December 2022 during the first cycle of Open Acreage of Production Sharing offered through Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP).
On 20 October, BP confirmed a major gas-condensate discovery at the Volans-1X exploration well in Namibia's Orange Basin. That well is operated by South African independent Rhino Resources with 50% interest on behalf of Azule Energy, which holds the remaining 50% interest. Azule is a joint venture between BP and Eni.
On 29 September, BP announced it had reached final investment decision on its $5-billion Tiber-Guadalupe project in the Gulf of America. The project will be the second in that region to use 20K-psi technology.
