Explorers have had interest in Guyana’s Takatu Basin, located in the southern part of the country approximately 480 km (300 miles) from the coast, for several decades. The basin extends westward into Brazil and separates Guyana’s Northern and Southern Geological Province.
Wells drilled in the basin include Lethem-1 (1980), Karanambo-1 (1982), Turantsink-1 (1992), and Apoteri K2 (2011), all of which had unfavorable outcomes, according to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).
Karanambo-1 – drilled by Home Oil Company of Canada encountered petroleum in a reservoir of fractured volcanic, which flowed under test at 400 bopd before depleting and was abandoned as noncommercial.
The crude was low sulphur, low wax, with an API of 42 degrees. Light crude is typically in the 35-45 API range, which includes most of the highest valued crudes such as Brent and WTI. Guyana’s Liza Crude is categorized as medium sweet with a sulfur level of 0.51% and API gravity of 32.10 degrees.
Speculated reserves within Takutu Basin are estimated at approximately a quarter billion barrels of low sulphur, low wax, 42 API crude.
Land-based petroleum blocks are available in the Takatu Basin and sections of the Guyana Basin.
The Guyana Basin includes both shore-based and offshore prospects, inclusive of the Stabroek Block, operated by ExxonMobil, where more than 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources have been found.
