Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 07, 2021 News
Kaieteur News – Jabillo-1, the second well that was recently drilled in the Canje Block, turned out to be a major disappointment as it did not show evidence of commercial quantities of hydrocarbons. Making this known to the market was Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas Limited, a relatively new oil company to the industry.
Eco recently bought shares in JHI Associates Inc., a private company incorporated in Canada. It is one of the original owners of the offshore concession that was suspiciously awarded in 2015 by the Donald Ramotar administration.
In its statement to the press, Eco said the Jabillo-1 Well was drilled to test Upper Cretaceous reservoirs in a stratigraphic trap. The well was positioned offshore Guyana, approximately 265 km northeast of Georgetown, in 2,903 meters of water and was safely drilled to a total depth of 6,475 meters.
It said too, that the Stena DrillMax Rig is currently operating in the ExxonMobil Operated Stabroek Block and is expected to move on to drill the Sapote-1 Well in the eastern portion of the Canje Block. The Sapote-1 Well is expected to be spud in mid-August 2021 with an estimated drilling time of up to 60 days.
Eco was keen to note that the Sapote-1 prospect is located in the southeastern section of Canje, and is a separate and distinct target from Jabillo. Sapote-1 lies approximately 100 km southeast of Jabillo and approximately 50 km north of the Haimara discovery in the Stabroek Block, which encountered ~207 feet (63 meters) of high quality, gas-condensate bearing sandstone reservoir. It is also approximately 60 km northwest of the Maka Central discovery in Block 58 which encountered ~164 feet (50 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir.
Should Sapote-1 turn out to be a noncommercial discovery, Guyana will have to stand the costs for it along with Jabillo-1 and the first well that was drilled called Bulletwood-1. These deep-water wells cost over US$100M each to drill. Guyana would ultimately stand the costs of these wells since ExxonMobil, as the operator of the block, is not bound by any ring-fencing provisions in the Canje Block Production Sharing Agreement (PSA). It is also absent in its Stabroek Block PSA which governs over 20 discoveries. As a result of this loophole, nothing prevents ExxonMobil from charging its expenses on one block against the revenue made in another.
The Canje Block is operated by ExxonMobil’s Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited with a 35% working interest. TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Guyana B.V hold a 35% stake, while JHI Associates (BVI) Inc. has 17.5% and Mid-Atlantic Oil & Gas Inc. has 12.5%.
In his statement to the international market, Gil Holzman, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Eco Atlantic, commented, “While the update is disappointing, this is the nature of oil exploration. Our stakeholders continue to support our exploration efforts and look for us to continue to define these near term high impact opportunities.”
He added, “Our next focus is the Sapote-1 prospect to be spud in the upcoming weeks which brings us another opportunity to share in what we hope to be another major ExxonMobil led discovery…‘I am happy that we managed to become a part of JHI and the Canje Block exploration program in time that offers our stakeholders a stream of high impact catalysts and an ongoing drilling program operated by ExxonMobil.”
Holzman said he is quite confident that Eco’s Canje Block exposure will yield great returns and oil discoveries as it also paves the way to a broader exposure and collaboration in the Guyana-Suriname Basin.
ABOUT ECO ATLANTIC
Eco Atlantic is an exploration and production company with interests in Guyana and Namibia, where significant oil discoveries have been made.
In Guyana, Eco Guyana is part of the Orinduik Block and holds a 15% working interest alongside TOQAP Guyana B.V. (‘TOQAP’) a company jointly owned by Total E&P Guyana B.V. (60%) and Qatar Petroleum (40%). Operator of the block, Tullow Oil holds 60% of the interest.
The Orinduik Block is adjacent and updip to ExxonMobil Operated Stabroek Block, on which 20 discoveries have been announced and over nine billion barrels of oil equivalent recoverable resources are estimated.
Jethro-1 was the first major oil discovery on Orinduik Block. The Jethro-1 encountered 180.5 feet (55 meters) of net heavy oil pay in a Lower Tertiary sandstone reservoir.
Joe-1 was the second discovery on the Orinduik Block and comprised of high quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir, with a high porosity of Upper Tertiary age. The Joe-1 well encountered 52 feet (16 meters) of continuous thick sandstone.
In Namibia, the company holds interests in four offshore petroleum licences totalling approximately 28,593km2.
JAGDEO ADDING MORE DANGER TO GUYANA AND THE REGION
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