Under the deep waters of the Atlantic, where the hidden blue immensity geological treasures, Brazil has rewrite a page in its oil history. In the heart of the presal (an appropriate neologism to refer to the geological layer that is under a dough of salt in depth)almost 200 kilometers from the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras has confirmed a new finding in the field of Buziosone of the jewels of its offshore production. The drilling more than five thousand meters deep has revealed a new accumulation of crude oil, an indication that there are still riches to discover in the bowels of the seabed. At a time when national production seeks to recover rhythm after months of fall, this finding reaffirms the potential of the presal and renews The Brazilian ambition to consolidate as a key actor in the global energy market.
The Brazilian Petrobras has confirmed a few hours ago the presence of a new oil reserve by drilling another well in Buzios, one of the fields that the state company It exploits in deep water from the Atlantic Ocean and that it is one of the main producers in Brazil. The well, located 189 kilometers from the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, was drilled at a depth of 1940 meters underwater. This Buzios field is already producing more than 730,000 barrels per day, which makes it the second largest oil deposit in the country, Only behind Tupi’s which is one of the largest crude oil deposits in America.
“It is a new accumulation (oil) in an area lower than the main reserve,” says the company’s statement. According to the state oil company, the tests carried out at 5,600 meters deep confirmed the existence of crude oil reserves, which will be analyzed in a laboratory for characterization.
Petrobras said the discovery “reaffirms the potential of the presal in the field of Buzios.” The Buzios field is the main area of Petrobras under the contract for onerous assignment, an area ceded by the government to the company in 2010 in the indirect change of shares of the state for the right to exploit up to 5,000 million barrels of oil.
The field began operating in 2018
This field, discovered in 2010 and whose production began in April 2018, is located in the Marina de Santos basin, an immense area with oil potential in the Atlantic Ocean and which has reservations in the presal. LThe rehasses of the presal are located in very deep waters under a layer of salt of two kilometers thick.
The Presal in Brazil is one of the most important oil reserves discovered in recent decades. It is in the deep water of the Atlantic, off the southeast coast of the country, mainly in the Santos basin and the Campos basin. His name comes from the fact that the deposits They are located under a thick salt layerwhich in turn is under several kilometers of water and sediments.
Great depth
One of the main singularities of the presal is its depth. To access these resources, the perforations must cross a column of water that can exceed 2,000 meters and then drill up to 5,000 additional meters under the seabed. The presence of the salt layer, which can reach several kilometers thick, is a technical challenge, since salt has complex geomechanical properties, such as the ability to flow over time and generate unstable pressures on wells.
Unlike other conventional deposits, the Brazilian pre-Salt has shown to contain high quality oil, with a low sulfur content, which makes it more valuable in international markets. In addition, the recovery rate of wells in this region has been higher than that of many other offshore projects, with some individual wells producing more than 30,000 barrels per day, an exceptionally high figure.
The development of Presal has required significant technological advances in perforación, corrosion resistant materials due to high temperatures and extreme pressures, and underwater production systems. Petrobras, the Brazilian Petroleum State Company, has led much of the exploration and exploitation of these resources, developing technologies such as submerged production buoys and gas and oil separation systems at the bottom of the sea to optimize operational efficiency.
Currently, Buzios is exploited by a consortium formed by Petrobras, with 88.98%of the participation and acting as an operator, in society with Chinese oil companies CNOOC (7.34%) and CNPC (3.67%), together With the state-owned state oil SA (PPSA), manager and that represents the government.
Buzios was the second largest producer field in Brazil in 2024, with an average production of 364,000 barrels of oil per day, the equivalent of 19.53% of all the production of hydrocarbons in marine areas of the country. According to Petrobras, the consortium responsible for Buzios will continue to analyze the results to give continuity to activities in the area.
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