Petrobras has filed today with the National Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP) the Declaration of Commerciality of the oil accumulation in northwest of the Júpiter Discovery Evaluation Plan (PAD) – Block BM-S-24 – in the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin.

In the declaration sent to the regulatory agency, the consortium comprised of Petrobras (80%) in partnership with Petrogal Brasil S.A. (20%) suggested that the new field should be named Sépia Leste. The field’s total recoverable volume is estimated at 130 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe).

The Sépia Leste field is at approximately 250 km from the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, at a depth of 2,165 meters. During the exploration, the extension of the Sépia field accumulation (Transfer of Rights) for the Sépia Leste area was considered a single oil deposit.

The Sépia field was declared commercially viable by Petrobras in September 2014 and features reservoirs with excellent porosity and permeability characteristics and good quality oil (approximately 26º API).

The BM-S-24 consortium and Petrobras (Sépia field’s operator) are discussing the use of the deposit comprising the Sépia and Sépia Leste fields by means of a Production Individualization Agreement (PIA). The unitization process consists of enabling, through a single project, the development and production of a single deposit which encompasses concession areas belonging to more than one concessionaire.

If the area is considered as a single deposit, the production of the Sépia Leste field will be handled by the same system used in the Sépia field, whose operational start-up is scheduled for 2019.

The BM-S-24 consortium will have until February 2016 to conclude the appraisal of the discovery of the remaining area comprising the Júpiter PAD.