Located at the mouth of the Amazon River, offshore Amapá state, the Foz do Amazonas Basin forms part of Brazil’s Equatorial Margin, a frontier corridor extending from Amapá to Rio Grande do Norte. It lies on the same trend as the Zaedyus discovery in French Guiana, drawing comparisons to the prolific Guyana-Suriname Basin. TGS's multi-client library offers unmatched coverage here: 98,044 km² of 3D seismic, 229,254 km of 2D seismic, and 268,506 km² of 2D-Cubed data.
The Equatorial Margin petroleum system is charged by two proven Cretaceous source rocks: the Aptian-age Codó Formation, an oil-prone Type I source, and the Cenomanian-Turonian Limoeiro Formation, a marine Type II source tied to the anoxic event behind analogous South Atlantic plays.
Reservoirs are dominated by Late Cretaceous Limoeiro turbidite sandstones, sealed by thick marine shales, with traps forming mainly through stratigraphic pinch-out — the play style proven at Zaedyus, where two turbidite fans logged 72 m of net oil pay. TGS' Amapá 3D Ph I and Ph II map this Cretaceous fairway beneath the thick Amazon overburden Morpho's discovery marks the first of 15 wells Petrobras plans to drill across the Equatorial Margin by 2030 as part of a $2.5 billion campaign targeting a basin estimated to hold 10 to 30 billion barrels, with the potential to become a successor to the pre- salt.
Chevron, ExxonMobil, and CNPC have already taken neighboring blocksand Morpho's result should sharpen that interest further. TGS' high-resolution regional seismic is essential for de-risking these stratigraphic traps across the Equatorial Margin.
Regional trap-type statistics explain why Morpho matters: across the South Atlantic, stratigraphic plays have overtaken structural traps as the dominant discovery type by roughly 3:1.
South America's deepwater transition began with Zaedyus around 2011, with 42% of reserves captured in the last 15 years of a 55-year drilling history. By comparison, West Africa's conjugate margin captured 91% of its reserves in the 25 years following its own inflection point.
Morpho is the next data point testing whether the Equatorial Margin can close that gap.
That inflection is already visible two basins to the east, where Petrobras’ 2024 Potiguar campaign delivered the Pitú Oeste and Anhangá discoveries, the first successful ultra deepwater wells in the Equatorial Margin and part of the same Albian turbidite play targeted by Morpho.
Acreage momentum is building alongside the drill bit: ANP's 6th Concession Offer holds its bid session October 7, 2026, with 495 blocks on offer nationwide and 86 more Equatorial Margin blocks already approved for future rounds.
Petrobras confirmed a hydrocarbon discovery at the Morpho prospect in Block FZA-M-59 on August 14, 2026, marking the first well drilled in this frontier area of the Equatorial Margin since 2015.
Well 1-BRSA-1405-APS logged hydrocarbons on wireline and in rock samples roughly 175 km off the Amapá coast in 2,886 m of water. Petrobras, holding a 100% interest acquired in ANP's 11th Licensing Round, continues drilling to assess whether volumes are sufficient to support a commercial development.
For companies evaluating opportunities in this area, high-quality regional subsurface data will be key to understanding the broader geological context. TGS has the seismic coverage and imaging expertise to help operators move confidently across both mature and frontier areas. Visit TGS seismic data library or contact us to schedule a data showing.
Brazil’s Seismic Solution to Modern Frontier Exploration: https://hubs.ly/Q04Csj4Z0
The 5th Cycle of Permanent Offer Acreage: Transforming Brazil's Energy Landscape: https://hubs.ly/Q04Csj680
The Equatorial Margin of Brazil is Open for Business: https://hubs.ly/Q04Csjx50