Petrobras Confirms Gas at Sandia-1 in Colombia as USD 3.1 Billion Equatorial Margin Drilling Program Advances

Petrobras confirmed a gas accumulation at the Sandia-1 exploratory well in deep water off Colombia, in Block GUA-OFF-0 of the Guajira basin, according to Revista O Empreiteiro. The company operates the consortium with 44.44%, alongside Ecopetrol S.A. with 55.56%.

Sandia-1 sits about 42 km from the coast under 1,251 metres of water, and 70.7 km from the city of Santa Marta. Drilling began on 12/06/2026 and reached final depth on 29/07/2026. Petrobras acts through its subsidiary Petrobras International Braspetro B.V - Sucursal Colombia (PIB-COL).

The well is 18 kilometres from Sirius-1, the discovery well, and Sirius-2, the appraisal well, and 9 kilometres from the Copoazu-1 discovery well. That spacing places Sandia-1 inside an already-drilled cluster rather than on open acreage. The Guajira basin is described as an area of large potential, compared to a new pre-salt.

Intervals where gas was confirmed are being evaluated in detail through well logs and will subsequently be characterised by laboratory analysis. Petrobras states that production from the discovery will be directed to the Colombian market, meeting high local demand.

The Colombian result runs alongside a separate frontier push on the Brazilian Equatorial Margin, where Petrobras plans to invest USD 3.1 billion through 2028, drilling 16 wells over four years. The Equatorial Margin extends from Rio Grande do Norte to Amapa and is of major interest to the oil and gas sector. The company already holds exploration licences on that margin and faces environmental concerns tied to its activities.

On that margin, Petrobras announced an oil accumulation in ultra-deep waters of the Potiguar basin, confirmed by the Anhanga exploratory well, according to Diario Potiguar. Anhanga lies near the border between Ceara and Rio Grande do Norte at a depth of 2,196 metres, roughly 190 km from Fortaleza and 250 km from Natal. Petrobras operates both concessions with 100% participation and says further analysis is required.

The Anhanga result followed other announcements in the same basin, including confirmation of oil at the Pitu Oeste well, about 24 km away. Petrobras stated that drilling at Anhanga proceeded without incident, citing its commitment to safety and the environment, and pointed to a record covering more than 3,000 wells drilled in deep and ultra-deep water. Both Anhanga and Pitu Oeste are distant from the mouth of the Amazon river, treated as an area of extreme sensitivity.

For an international reader tracking where state majors are placing exploration capital, the pairing matters on scale rather than on any single well result. A 16-well campaign backed by USD 3.1 billion is a multi-year commitment to a basin trend that runs across five Brazilian states, while the Colombian position is a minority-equity operatorship with output earmarked for a domestic buyer rather than export markets.

Petrobras is also present in Africa through Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe and South Africa, and in the Americas through Bolivia, Argentina and the United States. Revista O Empreiteiro reported the Sandia-1 confirmation on 11 August 2026, and separately reported that Petrobras earned BRL 52.4 billion in the second quarter of 2026. The Diario Potiguar article on the Potiguar basin discovery was published on 10 April 2024.

Portal Boas Novas, which carried the Colombian discovery on 3 August 2026, cited Agencia Brasil as its source.