Sept. 10 – ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels) announced that bp has begun drilling the first well in the Tupinambá block, located in the pre-salt area of the Santos Basin. Drilling operations commenced on September 8, four days after Ibama issued the license authorizing an exploratory campaign of up to three wells in the block—with the two additional wells contingent on the results of the first. The well, designated 1-BP-14-SPS, is being drilled in a water depth of 2,300 meters.
The environmental license also approved a short-term formation test—a procedure performed within a well to isolate a zone of interest, collect fluid samples, and measure reservoir rock pressure and flow rates. The test will be conducted using the Deepwater Mykonos drillship, operated by Transocean, which bp has chartered for the period from September 2026 to June 2027.
The exploration phase for Tupinambá is scheduled to expire on May 27, 2031. bp acquired a 100% stake in the block during the 2nd Cycle of the Permanent Production Sharing Offer (PPSO) in December 2023. PPSA (Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A.) manages the production sharing contract on behalf of the federal government.
Earlier this month, bp signed an agreement to bring Shell into the block. The plan is for bp to remain the operator of Tupinambá with a 50% stake, while Shell holds the remaining share. Completion of the transaction remains subject to approval by CADE (Administrative Council for Economic Defense) and the ANP. In addition to Tupinambá, bp operates the Bumerangue block, also located in the pre-salt area of the Santos Basin. The discovery made in the only well drilled in the block to date was considered the company’s largest in the last 25 years, with an estimated 8 billion barrels of liquids in place.
Brazil Energy Insight 
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