BP has announced a $10 million research collaboration project to help development of one of Brazil’s major geological assets.
BP Exec VP for Exploration, Mike Daly, in the Parnaiba Basin Image: BP/Geological Society |
Recent discoveries of oil and gas in cratonic basins in the Northern Hemisphere have prompted further exploration of these potential geological 'gold mines'. As part of its own extensive four-year programme in Brazil, set to finish in 2014, BP has set up a research project aimed at improving understanding of the evolution of the Parnaíba Basin and its oil and gas potential.
Funded through its affiliate - BP Energy do Brasil- the project will use scientific expertise from Brazil and the UK. This includes students from the Universities of Brasilia, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco and Bahia, working alongside the Brazilian National Observatory and the Universities of Aberdeen, Cambridge and Oxford in the UK.
The Brazil/UK collaboration has been welcomed by David Willetts, UK Minister of State for Universities and Science, who sees it as an “opportunity to develop the already excellent relationship in science, research and higher education" between the two countries.
BP already has a long-term commitment to Brazil, with a presence in five basins, although the Parnaíba Basin is yet to be established as a petroleum province. The voluntary project will allow researchers to build an integrated model of the area using seismic line and additional geophysical and geological data.