Petrobras intends to make a long-awaited return to wildcatting in the Barreirinhas basin in 2024 with a campaign that may target as many as a dozen exploration wells in Brazil’s environmentally sensitive northern equatorial margin.

The Brazilian oil giant is in the process of pursuing a drilling licence with federal environmental regulator Ibama in an attempt to resume exploration activities in a region where interest has grown as a result of discoveries in Suriname and Guyana.

Before that, the company also plans to spud the Morpho prospect in Block FZA-M-59 in the Foz do Amazonas basin in November in an area labelled of the northern equatorial margin known colloquially as Amapa Deep-Water.