THE northern equatorial margin will be a key element of Petrobras' plans to unlock a new exploration frontier in Brazilian waters. The company has allocated about $3 billion to exploration drilling in the region, with the campaign due to begin shortly with the drilling of the first of 16 planned wells. Petrobras is on the verge of drilling the Morpho wildcat in Block FZA-M-59 in the ultra-deepwater section of the Foz do Amazonas basin with the Ocyan drillship ODN Ⅱ. The programme will mark Petrobras' return to the region after more than a decade and could help determine if the giant discoveries made by ExxonMobil in Guyana extend all the way to the Brazilian border. Along with Morpho, Petrobras has mapped seven additional prospects to be drilled in Foz do Amazonas over a two-year period starting in November 2023. These include Tucano and Tucano Distal in Block FZA-M-S7, Arara, Cotinga, Papagaio Lundu and Saracura-Sanhacu in Block FZA-M-88, and Gralha Azul in Block FZA-M-127. Additional drilling in the area is also expected to include an appraisal to the Pitu discovery in Block BM-POT-17 in the Potiguar basin. Also on the radar are the Mapinguari and Gaviao exploration probes in Block BM-PAMA-3 in the Para-Maranhao basin, as well as the Cumbia, Cumbia Extension and Calliban prospects in Block BM-BAR-1 in the Bar-reirinhas basin.
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