Westmount Energy Ltd., a company that holds shares in two of the firms with stakes in the Kaieteur Block offshore Guyana, announced on Monday that Hess Corporation has increased its stake in the block from 15% to 20%.
“We believe this farm-in transaction reflects confidence in the prospective resource potential of the Kaieteur Block and augurs well for the continuing exploration of the area,” Westmount Executive Chairman Gerard Walsh said.
According to Westmount, Hess has acquired its additional working interest (WI) from Cataleya Energy.
It follows the drilling of the Tanager-1 well back in November when it made a discovery, deemed as non-commercial on a standalone basis.
Westmount’s interest in the project is indirect, via shareholdings in minority partners Catelya and Ratio Petroleum (5.3% and 0.04% respectively).
“We are very encouraged to see Hess, one of the Stabroek Block partners and a leading player in the Guyana-Suriname Basin, increase its WI in the Kaieteur Block on the back of the 2020 Tanager-1 oil discovery,” said Walsh.
He said this move is consistent with the Stabroek partners’ assessment that the total basin potential of the Guyana-Suriname Basin is now more than twice the discovered resource to date – indicating a potential yet-to-find resource in excess of 10bn oil-equivalent barrels across the basin.
“It is also consistent with the view that considerable hydrocarbon resource potential may be present in the newly emerging deeper plays, such as the Lower Campanian/Upper Santonian play, where the 3D seismic data suggests that the channel systems are at least as extensive in area as they are in the shallower Maastrichtian/Upper Campanian Liza play fairway,” the Westmount official stated.
Walsh said the farm-in transaction reflects confidence in the prospective resource potential of the Kaieteur Block and augurs well for the continuing exploration of the area.
The Stabroek block is presently host to over 18 discoveries, amounting to more than 9 billion barrels oil-equivalent (boe) resources.
Catelya Energy retains a 20% interest in the Kaieteur Block, whilst Ratio holds 25%. ExxonMobil is operator of the block with a 35% stake.
