Tullow for oil survey in Orinduik block
Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd yesterday announced that Eco Atlantic and its Operating Partner, Tullow Oil have approved an approximately 2,550 km2 seismic survey on the Company’s Orinduik Block offshore Guyana.
A press release from the company said that the survey is anticipated to begin in the next two weeks. The survey will be completed by Schlumberger Guyana Inc. Schlumberger recently placed ads in the local media for services and workers. Today’s announcement comes amid growing exploration interest in the GuyanaSuriname basin fuelled by ExxonMobil’s massive oil find in the Liza-1 well in the Stabroek Block in 2015. ExxonMobil has since found other commercial oil sources in the block
Eco Atlantic (Guyana) Inc, a subsidiary of Eco Atlantic, holds a 40% Working Interest in Orinduik, and Tullow, the multinational Operator based in the UK, holds the remaining 60%. The release said that the Orinduik Block is located up dip and just a few kilometers from Exxon’s recent Liza and Payara discoveries confirming, by Exxon’s estimates, in excess of 1.5 Billion Barrels of recoverable oil. The release said that the Company and Tullow have completed the first phase of exploration including analysing all existing and regional 2D data.
“Following the results of this study and the ongoing regional success, both parties have agreed to accelerate and significantly increase the originally proposed 1,000km2 3D survey commitment on the block to circa 2,550 kms2, thus covering the entire block area, fully overlapping current prospective 2D leads and downdip trends.
As part of its agreement with Tullow, Tullow will carry the Company’s share of the originally proposed 1,000 km2 of the survey, at a cap of US$1.25mm, with the balance of the program being funded by both parties on a pro-rata basis. The additional cost of the enhanced seismic program to Eco is well covered by existing cash resources following the Company’s over-subscribed Placing of GBP5.1M announced in February 2017 in conjunction with its dual listing on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.”
Colin Kinley, Chief Operating Officer and cofounder of Eco Atlantic stated in the release: “We are excited to embark on this very significant 3D survey which is substantially greater than the originally planned survey. In addition to de-risking the existing two defined targets, the survey will hopefully generate additional targets on the Orinduik Block, thereby increasing the prospective oil in place and adding leads for future work programs. We were keenly interested in this region of the GuyanaSuriname Basin even prior to Exxon’s highly successful drilling program, applying for the Orinduik block in 2014 because of its highly prospective Cretaceous canyon and fan plays. We have since been excited to see Exxon continue to successfully prove out the region in its ongoing drilling program and look forward to results from our own 3D survey, which are expected to come in the next couple of months”.
“The 2D interpretation has led to at least two significant reservoir leads on the Orinduik block that both we and Tullow believe may hold significant oil comparable to the world class regional discoveries identified by Exxon. Eco Atlantic expects to confirm a number of drilling targets with this increased 3D Survey, ahead of drilling of the first well in Orinduik, hopefully in 2018.”
Tullow has interests in over 100 exploration and production licences across 18 countries which are managed as three Business Delivery Teams: West Africa, East Africa and New Ventures.