Ceará-Potiguar Special Report

ANP’s 2023 Exploration & Production Rounds
Ranking Brazilian Sedimentary Basins: It’s out there. Get ready using the BPS Geodatabase!

In this special report, we will analyze the deepwater blocks situated within the Ceará and Potiguar Basins, both located in the Equatorial Margin. Figure 1 depicts a BPS Geodatabase map of the Brazilian South Atlantic, showcasing all the offshore blocks set for offering during the 4th Round of the Permanent Concession Offer scheduled for December 13, 2023 (yellow dots). These encompass the offshore exploration blocks across various deepwater regions, including the Pelotas, Santos Campos, Espirito Santo, Camamu-Almada, Jacuípe, Pernambuco-Paraíba, Potiguar, Ceará, and Foz do Amazonas Basins. Particularly noteworthy are the blocks slated for offering within the Sector SPOT-AP2 of the deep-water Potiguar Basin.

Figure 1: Overview Map of Brazilian South Atlantic Basins displaying the 955 blocks slated for offering in the 4th Cycle of Permanent Concession Round (yellow dots) along with comprehensive BPS dataset integration.

Just to give a little bit of background, it is important to mention that the Potiguar Basin stands as the primary oil producer within the Brazilian Equatorial Margin. Presently, it yields approximately ~49.6 thousand barrels per day (Kblpd) of oil and slightly over 1.2 million cubic meters per day (Mm3/day) of gas across 85 fields distributed among its onshore and nearshore regions.

Following the deep-water oil discoveries in the Pecem Field of the Ceará Basin, as well as the Pitú and Tango fields in the Potiguar Basin between 2012 and 2014, exploration activities in the basin were temporarily halted. This pause awaited Petrobras’ decision on initiating studies for developing these significant oil discoveries. Despite multiple license extensions and delays, the relinquishment of blocks 1-BRSA-1080-CES (Pecem Field-Ceará Basin) and 1-BRSA-1175-RNS (Tango Field) took place.

However, in October 2023, Petrobras unveiled its development plans specifically for the Pitu Field, associated with well 1-BRSA-1205-RNS within the POT-M-853 block. The company aims to drill two wells in this area in 2024. Furthermore, Petrobras has outlined plans to explore the Anhangá Exploratory Prospect within the POT-M-762 block during the same year (Figures 1–2). It’s worth noting that despite these advancements, there has been no oil production in this deep-water region as of today.

The objective of this report is to leverage the BPS integrated Brazilian Geodatabase as a transformative tool for ranking and prioritizing the three blocks within the Sector SCE-AP3 of the Ceará Basin, along with 11 blocks from the Sector SPOT-AP2 of the Potiguar Basin. These blocks are set to be part of the ANP’s forthcoming 4th Cycle of Permanent Concession Bidding Rounds Offers.

As you can see below, figure 2 presents a map illustrating the ranking of the blocks from the Ceará and Potiguar basins, which you can find more elaborated in our special report. This comprehensive analysis includes data on source-rock richness, oil type, oil quality, and field size distribution related to deep-water discoveries since 2013. Additionally, it encompasses information on oil slicks, oil seepages, seismic sections, as well as 2D modeled seismic lines and 3D petroleum system compositional locations.

Figure 2 displays the ranking of blocks within sector SCE-AP3 and SPOT-AP2 (representing the deepwater Ceará and Potiguar basins, respectively) based on the BPS Geodatabase, scheduled for offering in the 4th Round of the Permanent Concession Offer. The prioritization of these blocks ranges from 1 to 3, meticulously considering the petroleum system approach, encompassing analyses from source to trap.

This comprehensive assessment integrates various crucial factors, including satellite-detected oil slicks (SAR imaging), seabed piston core-identified oil seeps, assessments of source rocks, reservoir analyses through lab and log petrophysics, augmented by machine learning (ML) technology. Advanced geochemical analyses of oils extracted from the deepwater areas of the basin, coupled with PVT (pressure-volume-temperature) studies, Formation Tests, 3D-seismic interpretation, and both 2D-seismic line and 3D compositional petroleum system modeling, form the foundation of this evaluation. Notably, all data incorporated originate from the extensive BPS BrazilGeodatabase. Are you interested in knowing more about Brazil Geodatabase? Get in touch with our experts and request a demonstration for free.

SPECIAL REPORT 
EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION ANP BID ROUND 2023

Brazilian Sedimentary Basins – BPS’s Ranking: Go for it, and get ready using the BPS Geodatabase. Ranking of the deep and ultra-deepwater exploration blocks on offer in the Ceará-Potiguar Basin, by Marcio Rocha Mello.

Send an e-mail to rep.tec@brazilpetrostudies.com.br to find out more about how you can order the special report right now!

Because nobody knows the Brazilian sedimentary Basins like BPS!

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