Repsol

Repsol Sinopec confirms commercial viability of the petroleum and gas accumulation in the Guará area

Press Release

29 December 2011 23:00 CET

Repsol Sinopec communicates that the Block BM-S-9 exploratory consortium, formed by Petrobras, operator (45%), Repsol Sinopec (25%) and BG Group (30%), has submitted the Declaration of Commerciality to the National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) for the Guará area in the pre-salt area of Santos Basin.

The new field, named Sapinhoá, is another giant field in the pre-salt layers and one of the biggest in Brazil, containing good quality crude oil (30º API). The Declaration of Commerciality was brought forward one year, taking into account that the final deadline for the Evaluation Plan approved by the ANP was 31 December 2012. With a total estimated recoverable volume of 2.1 billion of barrels of oil equivalent (boe), Sapinhoá is another giant field discovered in the Brazilian pre-salt layers, and one of the biggest in the country. The excellent exploratory data obtained in the area reaffirms the high potential of the pre-salt area.

The consortium also submitted the Final Evaluation Report for the area to the ANP. The ANP will analyze the Development Plan (PD) in February 2012. The Declaration of Commerciality was issued following implementation of the Exploratory Evaluation Program in the area which begun when the first well was drilled in 2008.

Four wells were drilled in the area, including one dedicated to acquire reservoir data. In addition, four formation tests (DST) were conducted in three wells, as well as a five-month extended well test (EWT) in the discovery well. The EWT confirmed the excellent productivity of the discovery well. The flow was maintained throughout the entire test period. The test also revealed information on the properties of the carbonate reservoirs, which is essential for optimizing the development plan.

Repsol Sinopec confirmed the importance of this discovery. Its deepwater projects in Brazil are confirmed as one of the key areas for this company, which has a solid track record of exploratory success.