bp discovers its largest oil and gas field in more than 25 years

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BP HAS made its largest oil and gas discovery since 1999 – a giant find off the coast of Brazil.

The Bumerangue prospect is located in the Santos basin, the largest offshore basin in Brazil, 404 km from Rio de Janeiro.

Found 5,855 km underground, the field has been likened to bp’s Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea, which produced around 28bn m3 of gas and more than 4m t of condensate in 2024 alone.

Bp has targets to produce 2.5m boe/d from its portfolio of oil and gas projects by 2030, an increase from 2.4 boe/d last year.

As part of its new plan, the company has 10 oil and gas projects starting up between this year and the end of 2027, and a further eight to 10 by 2030. The first 10 projects will be located in Egypt, Trinidad, the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

Energy mix

Bp has been operating in Brazil for more than 50 years, holding eight offshore blocks across three basins in the country.

Gordon Birrell, bp’s executive VP for production and operations, said: “Brazil is an important country for bp, and our ambition is to explore the potential of establishing a material and advantaged production hub in the country.”

The Bumerangue find is said to have a mix of gas, condensate and oil, as well as “elevated levels of carbon dioxide”. Bp says it will now conduct laboratory analyses to characterise the field and the fluids it holds.