BP, the UK-based energy giant, has announced its largest oil and gas discovery in a quarter-century, located deep offshore in Brazil’s Santos Basin.
The announcement was made Monday, following tests at the Bumerangue block, about 400km (250 miles) off Brazil’s east coast.
Company executive Gordon Birrell described the find as BP’s most significant since the Shah Deniz field in 1999, marking a major shift back to fossil fuels.
BP is exploring the creation of a production hub at the site, as it plans to boost crude output and regain investor confidence.
This comes months after the company reduced its renewable energy investments and committed to increased spending on traditional oil and gas operations.
The discovery covers a roughly 500-metre thick oil and gas zone and adds to other recent BP finds in the Gulf of Mexico and Egypt.
The find signals a strategic reversal from BP’s earlier pledge to become a “net zero” company by 2050, a plan that’s faced numerous setbacks.
The Covid-19 pandemic, losses from exiting Russia, and lagging returns from renewables have strained BP’s finances in recent years.
Following the discovery news, BP’s stock rose slightly by over 1% in London, signaling market optimism about the fossil fuel pivot.
With this discovery, BP hopes to solidify its future growth and re-establish its standing in global energy markets.