British oil company finds more oil offshore Guyana

Last Updated on Monday, 16 September 2019, 7:47 by Writer

The London-listed Irish explorer Tullow Oil said on Monday that it has made a second oil discovery off the coast of Guyana, after the Joe-1 exploration well successfully opened a new upper tertiary oil play in the Guyana basin.

The move follows a “substantial and high value oil discovery” by Tullow Oil in its Jethro-1 exploration well, in the same area of Guyana, back in August.

Angus McCoss, exploration director, said: “I am very pleased that we have made back-to-back discoveries in Guyana and successfully opened a new, shallower play in the upper tertiary age of the Guyana basin with our second well. The Joe-1 discovery and its surrounding prospects represent another area of significant potential in the Orinduik Block and we are greatly looking forward to the next phase of the programme as we continue to unlock the multi-billion barrel potential of this acreage.”

Davy Stockbrokers said that the findings support “an upbeat assessment of Tullow’s exploration package in the Guyana area, and “bodes well for the appraisal programmes expected to follow on and the value contribution of the licence”.

The Joe-1 exploration well was drilled by the Stena Forth drillship and evaluation of logging and sampling data has confirmed that Joe-1 has encountered 14 metres of net oil pay in high-quality oil bearing sandstone reservoirs of upper tertiary age. Joe is the first oil discovery to be made in the upper tertiary, Tullow Oil said, and de-risks the petroleum system in the west of the Orinduik Block, where a significant number of tertiary and cretaceous age prospects have been identified.

The explorer said, along with its partners, it will now evaluate data from the Joe-1 discovery alongside data from the Jethro-1 discovery announced in August 2019 and await the outcome of the Carapa well to determine the optimal follow-on exploration and appraisal programme.

Meanwhile Director of the Ministry of the Presidency’s Department of Energy, Dr. Mark Bynoe, hailed this the second discovery of oil in two different wells operated by Tullow, in less than six weeks.

“The Co-operative Republic of Guyana continues to be encouraged by the prolific rate of discovery in our country. Every Guyanese can be assured that the Government will continue to work conscientiously to pursue the most effective and efficient marketing strategies of Guyana’s crude entitlement to transform our economy and to implement sustainable development programmes from which all Guyanese can benefit,” Dr. Bynoe said.

“Guyana’s future is bright but more importantly, the time is ripe for all Guyanese to focus on how they want to see their oil revenues spent and invested”, Dr. Bynoe said.

The well was drilled on the Orinduik licence, offshore Guyana by Tullow’s wholly owned subsidiary Tullow Guyana B.V., the operator of the Orinduik block with a 60 per cent stake. Total E&P Guyana B.V. holds 25 per cent with the remaining 15 per cent being held by Eco (Atlantic) Guyana Incorporated.

On completion of operations, the Stena Forth drill ship will return to Ghana.