BP has announced a major oil and gas discovery at the Bumerangue prospect in deepwater offshore Brazil.
BIG OIL 2Q EARNINGS SEASON: After a long wait, music to my ears: "BP can and will do better for its investors," says CEO Murray Auchincloss. Yes!
BP announces a "thorough review of our portfolio of businesses" plus "initiating a further cost review."
(Plus stronger 2Q result) pic.twitter.com/gMj3F7wkls
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) August 5, 2025
The exploration well intersected the reservoir about 500 meters below the crest of the structure, penetrating an estimated 500-meter gross hydrocarbon column in a high-quality pre-salt carbonate reservoir. “This is BP’s largest discovery in 25 years,” said Gordon Birrell, BP’s Executive Vice President for Production & Operations.
“It underscores our commitment to growing our upstream activities. Brazil is a key country for BP, and we aim to establish a significant production hub here.”
BP says it made its largest oil exploration discovery in 25 years
(1-BP-13-SPS at the Bumerangue block offshore Brazil)
**With all the caveats of a company under pressure to show off and that BP says further appraisal of the discovery is needed**
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) August 4, 2025
BP holds 100% participation in the block, with Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. acting as the Production Sharing Contract manager.
"BP said it was too early to assess the size or quality…elevated levels of carbon dioxide had been detected, a factor that could complicate extraction…Bringing a deepwater field in Brazil to production can take between four to 10 years." https://t.co/1FlsVo2ocH
— Gregory Brew (@gbrew24) August 4, 2025
BP acquired the block in December 2022 during the 1st Cycle of the Open Acreage of Production Sharing of ANP on favorable commercial terms.
Bumerangue is BP’s tenth discovery in 2025, part of a successful exploration year.
The BP evolution: from “Beyond Petroleum” back to “British Petroleum” as it seeks to develop a large, new deep water field off the coast of Brazil. BP stock up 1% with this announcement. https://t.co/7nSs0rNXrD
— Theresa Fallon (@TheresaAFallon) August 5, 2025
Bp’s major deepwater Brazil discovery
Other discoveries have been made in Trinidad, Egypt, the Gulf of America, Libya, as well as other locations in Brazil, Namibia, and Angola.
BP aims to grow its global upstream production to 2.3-2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030, with plans to further increase production capacity by 2035. BP has been active in Brazil for over 50 years and maintains a diverse portfolio in the country, holding interests in eight offshore blocks across three basins, with four as the operator. This year’s campaign includes the appraisal well for the Alto de Cabo Frio Central discovery and planning for an exploration well in the Tupinambá block in 2026.
Preliminary rig-site analysis indicated elevated levels of carbon dioxide, and further laboratory analysis will be conducted to characterize the reservoir and fluids discovered. The reservoir spans an area greater than 300 square kilometers. The Bumerangue block is located in the Santos Basin, approximately 404 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro, in a water depth of 2,372 meters, and was drilled to a total depth of 5,855 meters.