UK-based Tullow Oil said Wednesday it will be drilling the Goliathberg-Voltzberg North prospect at Suriname’s Block 47 early next year instead of Q4 2020, as was previously announced. The prospect lies approximately 260 kilometres off the coast of the country in 1,900 metres of water and is one of a series of leads and prospects on the flank of the Demerara High.
“In Suriname, the drilling of the Goliathberg-Voltzberg North prospect (GVN-1) in Block 47 is planned for the first quarter of 2021. A rig is expected to be contracted shortly for this Upper Cretaceous prospect,” the company said in its financial half year trading statement and operational update.
Tullow said the impact of COVID-19 has been managed safely across its business “with no impact on our operated production.” Group working interest production in the first half of 2020 averaged 77,700 bopd in line with expectations and full year guidance has been narrowed to 71,000-78,000 bopd “reflecting continued good performance across the portfolio.”
In January, Apache announced a significant oil discovery at Maka Central-1. This was followed by a second discovery announced in April at Sapakara West-1, both at Block 58 offshore Suriname.
Tullow will be looking to replicate this success even as it continues to examine options in neighbouring Guyana where it completed a three-well exploration campaign in 2019. The company drilled the Jethro-1 and Joe-1 wells in the Tullow-operated Orinduik licence and the Carapa-1 well in the Repsol Kanuku licence.
