Petrobras confirms oil discovery at mouth of Amazon River in Amapá
Perobras: discovery demonstrates that company will remain a major oil producer in Brazil
Alexandre Cassiano/Valor
Petrobras CEO Magda Chambriard confirmed Monday (17) the discovery of oil in the Amazonas River Mouth basin, off the coast of Amapá state. “There is oil; we don’t know how much. We are extremely optimistic,” the CEO said while visiting, alongside President Lula, a drilling rig carrying out the first work on the FZA-M-59 block off the state’s coast.
Chambriard said the discovery confirms studies pointing to significant oil potential in the region. Drilling of the Morpho well in the FZA-M-59 block began in 2025. The work is expected to take 15 to 20 days. During her presentation, Chambriard displayed an oil sample collected at the site, confirming the presence of the resource.
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On Friday (14), Petrobras had reported “indications of hydrocarbons” without specifying whether the discovery involved oil or natural gas.
The discovery in the Amazonas River Mouth basin demonstrates that Petrobras will remain a major oil producer in Brazil, Chambriard said. The find does not yet have commercial value, she added. “Announcing a discovery is different from announcing a commercial discovery. We still have a series of studies to determine the potential for oil production,” she noted.
According to the executive, Petrobras needs to replenish its reserves after Brazil’s pre-salt oil production reaches its expected peak between 2034 and 2035.
Chambriard also said that once drilling of the first well is completed, the company will have a better understanding of how much oil is present in the area. Petrobras has three more wells to drill in the FZA-M-59 block and another six in different areas of the region. For the remaining wells, the state-owned oil company is awaiting additional licenses from Brazil’s environmental protection agency IBAMA.
Petrobras has so far invested $300 million (about R$1.5 billion) in drilling the Morpho well in the Amazonas River Mouth basin, said Clarice Coppetti, the company’s corporate affairs director. In a news conference after visiting the drillship in Amapá, she said that R$150 million of the investment has gone toward environmental protection and wildlife-response infrastructure. Drilling costs $1 million a day.
Regarding licenses for three additional wells in the FZA-M-59 block, Coppetti said IBAMA issued an opinion on August 10 requesting additional measures, including an increase in the number of vessels and the expansion of capacity at a wildlife-response center in Oiapoque, Amapá, to care for manatees in northern Brazil. She said Petrobras and IBAMA are engaged in “constant dialogue,” with the process being monitored by the Chief of Staff Office.
Chambriard said every stage of the studies on Brazil’s Equatorial Margin has reinforced Petrobras’s optimism about the region’s potential. She noted that the oil giant’s bid for the block, in a 2013 auction, was part of an effort to diversify exploration investment toward Brazil’s North and Northeast. “When that happens, production follows,” she said.
The announcement came after a week of reconciliation between Lula and Senate President Davi Alcolumbre, who attended the event on Monday (17). It also coincided with the start of the election campaign. The announcement came just days after the government issued decrees regulating markets linked to the energy transition, including green hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and sustainable aviation fuel.
The Equatorial Margin, particularly the Amazonas River Mouth basin, is considered one of Brazil’s last oil frontiers. It is also an environmentally and socially sensitive region, prompting years of debate over the feasibility of oil exploration there.
The Amazonas River Mouth discovery was not the first Petrobras has announced on the Equatorial Margin. In 2024, the state-owned company found indications of hydrocarbons at the Pitu Oeste well in the Potiguar basin, off Rio Grande do Norte state. That same year, Petrobras reported “petroleum accumulation” in ultradeep waters at the Anhangá well in the same basin. At the time, the oil giant was appealing IBAMA’s denial of a permit for the Amazonas River Mouth block. The permit was ultimately granted in October 2025.
