Exploration efforts in the Canje and Kaieteur Blocks offshore are continuing, according to ExxonMobil Guyana, which said that experts are diligently examining the post-drill results to gain deeper insights into the oil and gas potential outside of the Stabroek Block.Â
Outlined in Exxon’s 2022 Annual Report, the analysis is primarily centered around the drilling outcomes of four key wells: Jabillo-1, Bulletwood-1, Sapote-1, and Tanager-1.
These findings will play a crucial role in assessing the overall prospectivity of the blocks and identifying additional areas of interest for further development.
The Canje and Kaieteur Blocks, located in the prolific Guyana-Suriname Basin, have garnered attention from global energy players due to their promising hydrocarbon prospects. Exxon operates both blocks.
Jabillo-1 – in the Canje Block – was drilled back in 2021 without encountering commercial hydrocarbons. Exxon then switched to the Sapote-1 well. It was described as an independent multi-layer prospect, which evaluated several Upper Cretaceous targets.
The Sapote prospect lies approximately 100 kilometres (km) southeast of the Jabillo location and about 50 km north of the Haimara discovery in the Stabroek Block and about 60 km northwest of the Maka Central discovery in Block 58. No commercial oil was found here either.
The same result came from the third prospect in Canje – Bulletwood-1; the well-encountered quality reservoirs but non-commercial hydrocarbons.
Tanager-1 confirmed 16 metres of net oil pay in high-quality sandstone reservoirs of Maastrichtian age. It was the first to be drilled in the Kaieteur block, reaching a total depth of 7,633 metres. The discovery was deemed to be non-commercial as a standalone development, and the well was plugged and abandoned.
Tanager was estimated to contain around 65.3 million barrela of oil as part of a ‘best estimate’ provided in a report compiled by consultants Netherland, Sewell & Associates Inc. back in 2021. The report, seen by OilNOW, provides three categories for the oil volumes at Tanager – low estimate (17.7 million barrels), best estimate (65.3 million barrels) and high estimate (131 million barrels).
The estimated volumes include crude oil only. According to the report, these properties are not expected to produce commercial volumes of gas.
