Petrobras has confirmed the presence of good quality oil and gas in BM-SEAL-10 block in ultra-deep waters in the Sergipe-Alagoas basin in Brazil, the company announced. This block is part of the SEAL-M-499 concession, fully operated by Petrobras.

The discovery was made during the drilling of 1-BRSA-1088-SES (1-SES-168) well, commonly known as Moita Bonita and located in a water depth of 2,775 m (9,104 ft).

Lying 85 km (53 miles) off the coast of the city of Aracaju, the well is 35 km (22 miles) southwest of Barra accumulation, where the 1-SES-158 well was drilled, which discovered the first significant signs of gas in ultra-deep waters in the Sergipe-Alagoas basin.

In the same region, Petrobras announced, on Aug. 22, completion of the Barra 1 extension well 3-SES-165, which also contains oil and is located 30 km (19 miles) from the Moita Bonita well.

The Moita Bonita discovery was verified by signs of oil identified during the drilling log analysis and by fluid samples from cable tests.

A 300 m (984 ft) hydrocarbon column was found at a depth of 5,070 m (16,634 ft) with 52 m (171 ft) of porous sandstones bearing light oil, gas, and condensate.

The company will continue conducting studies in the area, including analysis of data from rocks and fluid obtained from the well, with a view to submitting an appraisal plan to the National Petroleum Agency.