Tullow Oil said on Wednesday prospect maturation continues across its exploration portfolio in Guyana. The company is looking to unlock value from substantial prospective resources offshore the South American country.
In a trading statement and operational update, Tullow said it completed a comprehensive refinancing of its debt, successfully issuing $1.8 billion of Senior Secured Notes with five-year maturity. The Group also entered into a new $500 million Super Senior Revolving Credit Facility, which will primarily be used for working capital purposes.
OilNOW understands the company is working on identifying its next drill targets offshore Guyana where it has already made two discoveries comprising heavy oil on its Orinduik license while encountering a non-commercial well at the Kanuku block.
Explorers identify 22 prospects on Orinduik Block with some having over 30% chance of success
The company and its partners are ranking the upcoming prospects according to a number of criteria to help make their decision on where to drill next.
In January 2020, the Carapa-1 well was drilled and determined to be non-commercial on a standalone basis. The results suggest the extension of the Cretaceous oil play from the ExxonMobil-operated Stabroek licence southwards into the Kanuku acreage.
While net pay was determined to be lower than pre-drill forecasts, the company has said the 27-degree API oil supports the significant potential of the Cretaceous play on both the Kanuku, and adjacent Orinduik licences, where it had made two previous discoveries at the Joe and Jethro prospects.
“Carapa is not commercial in itself but it is an important technical discovery,” George Cazenove, Head of Communications at Tullow Oil had told OilNOW at the time.
“Joe and Jethro continue to be evaluated but, as previously disclosed, the oil is heavy and has high levels of sulphur which has to be taken into account when deciding if they are commercial,” he had pointed out.
Heavy oil at Orinduik Block becoming more attractive as Venezuela’s supply dwindles – Gil Holzman
In its operational update, the company said group working interest production in the first half of 2021 averaged 61,200 bopd, in line with expectations. Full year 2021 guidance has been revised to 55,000 – 61,000 bopd (from 60,000 – 66,000 bopd).
In March it was announced that Tullow and its partners successfully entered into the First Renewal Period of the Orinduik Petroleum Prospecting Licence initially signed on January 14, 2016.
