Petrobras announces new deepwater discovery

Brazilian oil company Petrobras announced that it has discovered "high-quality" oil in the ultra-deep waters of the Santos Basin, in the Atlantic Ocean.

The deposit is located in a well within the Aram block, where drilling has already been completed. It lies 248 kilometers off the coast of the city of Santos, in the state of São Paulo, at a depth of 1,952 meters.

This is the second discovery of "high-quality" crude in the same block this year, following the identification of another reserve in March at a depth of 1,759 meters in a different well.

According to a statement from Petrobras, specialized analyses will now begin to determine the characteristics of the discovered reserves and fluids in order to assess the potential of the newly found area.

Additionally, Petrobras plans to drill two more wells in the block based on this new discovery.

The Aram block was acquired in March 2020 by a consortium led by Petrobras, which holds an 80% stake and operates the block, in partnership with China's CNPC, which holds the remaining 20%.

Aram is located in the Santos Basin, a vast offshore area with significant oil potential in the Atlantic Ocean, home to reserves in Brazil's so-called pre-salt region.

The pre-salt deposits are located in very deep waters beneath a two-kilometer-thick layer of salt and currently account for 79.8% of the country's oil and gas production.

In the first quarter of 2025, Petrobras produced an average of 3.97 million barrels of oil and gas equivalent per day, a 3.2% increase compared to the same period last year.