BP's monster Brazilian oil field found to be twice as big as previously thought

Analysis of BP’s largest oil and gas discovery in decades has revealed that it could be even bigger than it first thought.

The UK-listed oil giant has hailed the Bumerangue site off the coast of Brazil as the most significant find in 25 years.

It said earlier this year that it had discovered a 500m column of hydrocarbons – oil and gas. Yesterday, it confirmed this was nearly twice as big, at 1,000m.

That does not necessarily mean the volume of oil and gas extracted will be greater but adds to the firm’s optimism about the site.

Gordon Birrell, the company’s executive vice-president for production and operations, said: ‘We are pleased about what we have seen and our confidence in the potential of this field has increased.’

BP said testing was continuing with well activities expected to begin in early 2027 subject to regulatory approval.

It came as it announced yesterday that it had signed an agreement to explore for oil and gas off the coast of Gabon in central Africa.

BP’s shares rose 1.4 per cent, or 6.3p, to 447.85p.

Elsewhere, rival Shell reported third-quarter profits of £4.1billion and said it would buy back shares worth £2.7billion. Its shares added 0.3 per cent, or 7.5p, to 2883p.