The Joint Venture partners at the 1,800km2 Orinduik Block offshore Guyana have opted to enter the next exploration phase of the Orinduik Petroleum Agreement and have since submitted their official notice to the South American country’s Department of Energy.
The JV partners are Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas (15% working interest), Tullow Guyana B.V. (Operator, 60% working interest) and Total E&P Guyana B.V. (25% working interest).
The first renewal period is expected to commence on January 14, 2020 and will see the JV Partners maintain control of the licence for a further three years, through January 13, 2023. The Orinduik Petroleum Agreement was initially signed on January 14, 2016.
The work completed by the JV Partners on the Orinduik Block to date, including the completion of a 2,550 km2 3D seismic programme in 2017 and the drilling of two exploration wells, both leading to discoveries, on Jethro-1 and Joe-1.
Hopes were high that the company’s twin offshore Guyana discoveries might replicate the crude quality of ExxonMobil’s neighbouring Stabroek block. But laboratory analysis of crude taken from the Jethro and Joe discoveries, in the Orinduik block, revealed crude of around 10-15° API gravity and c.5pc sulphur—in contrast to the lighter 32.1° API gravity and 0.5pc sulphur content of ExxonMobil’s Liza discovery—risking the commerciality of both prospects.
“The commerciality of both discoveries is still being assessed and our options are being reviewed,” Tullow spokesman George Cazenove said on November 13.
Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas said on Tuesday the activities offshore Guyana has exceeded all of the original license commitments required within the initial phase of the Orinduik Petroleum Agreement.
“We are very pleased that the JV Partners have unanimously elected to enter into the next phase of exploration and development at the Orinduik Block. We have met and exceeded all of the licence commitments to date and stand ready to further appraise and explore the significant hydrocarbon potential of the Orinduik Block licence, both in the proven discoveries of the Tertiary layer and in the deeper Cretaceous layer, estimated to hold an additional 3.2 bn barrels of oil (gross unrisked prospective (P50) resource) according to the CPR resource report published in March 2019,” Gil Holzman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Eco Atlantic said.
He pointed out that 2019 has been a milestone year for the company. “We were honoured to be awarded the Explorer of the Year award at the Oil & Gas Council’s Awards for Excellence, voted on by industry participants, on December 3, 2019. As we look to next year, we will continue to work closely with all our stakeholders, including our host Governments and the JV Partners, to determine the budget and drilling programme for 2020, and we look forward to publishing an updated CPR on Orinduik Block and sharing our upcoming plans on our Namibian and Guyanese licences over the coming months.”
Tullow Oil has said that while the results from the Jethro and Joe wells in the far north of the Orinduik acreage continue to be evaluated, the petroleum system models are being updated in pursuit of additional prospects and lighter oil in the area.
