Campos Basin

An offshore sedimentary basin off southeastern Brazil, chiefly in Rio de Janeiro state. Its thick sedimentary deposits host major oil and natural-gas reserves.

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Santos Basin: An offshore sedimentary basin along southeastern Brazil, south of the Campos Basin, with extensive petroleum reserves. It is the neighboring basin in Brazil’s prolific southeastern offshore margin.
Pre-salt layer: A succession of rocks deposited beneath thick evaporite salt in Brazilian offshore basins. Some Campos discoveries occur in reservoirs beneath the basin’s Aptian salt.
Petrobras: Brazil’s state-controlled integrated energy company, founded in 1953. Petrobras led much of the basin’s exploration and production development.
Brazilian oil boom: The rapid expansion of Brazil’s petroleum production, especially from offshore discoveries in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Campos discoveries drove an early phase of Brazil’s offshore production surge.
Albacora field: An offshore oil field in the Campos Basin discovered in 1984. It was among the early large discoveries that established the basin’s potential.
South Atlantic Ocean: The Atlantic Ocean south of the equator, bordered by South America and Africa. The basin lies on the South American side of this ocean.
Evaporite: A sedimentary rock formed when mineral-rich water evaporates and leaves dissolved salts behind. Aptian evaporites form the thick seal above important deep reservoirs.
Deepwater drilling: The drilling of wells in deep offshore waters using specialized floating rigs and subsea systems. Many Campos fields required technologies for drilling and producing far offshore.
Royalty (natural resources): A payment to a government for the extraction of publicly owned natural resources. Oil production in Campos generated royalties for Brazil’s federal, state, and municipal governments.
Albacora Leste field: An offshore oil field in the eastern Campos Basin, discovered in 1986. Its development illustrates the expansion of production into deeper waters.