BP announced that it has uncovered its largest oil and gas deposit in a quarter-century at the Bumerangue prospect in Brazil’s deep-water Santos Basin. The 1-BP-13-SPS well, drilled roughly 400 kilometres off Rio de Janeiro in 2,372 metres of water, intersected a high-quality pre-salt carbonate reservoir with an estimated 500-metre hydrocarbon column across a field spanning more than 300 square kilometres. The discovery, BP’s tenth this year, could serve as the foundation for a new production hub in the country, the company said. The find bolsters Chief Executive Murray Auchincloss’s push to rebuild the Anglo-American major’s upstream portfolio after several years of underperformance and a partial retreat from renewables. BP shares rose about 1.3 percent in London trading after the announcement, outperforming the wider European energy sector. A day later BP reported second-quarter adjusted net profit of US$2.35 billion, comfortably ahead of analysts’ US$1.76 billion consensus. The company raised its quarterly dividend by 4 percent to 8.32 cents a share, maintained a US$750 million buyback and said it had achieved US$900 million of structural cost reductions in the first half, bringing total savings to US$1.7 billion. New chairman Albert Manifold will oversee a comprehensive portfolio review as BP targets up to US$5 billion in additional savings and US$20 billion in asset sales by 2027.