Not long to wait now !19 Oct 2012 12:10
A follow up well to the Zaedyus oil discovery is expected to be complete in three months time, Northern Petroleum (LON:NOP) confirmed.
According to Northern, drilling began just over a week ago on July 6. And the new well, tagged GM-ES-2, is targeting the discovery of ‘at least’ 300 million barrels of oil, it said.
Northern has a 1.25 per cent stake in the Guyane offshore area, alongside fellow AIM firm Wessex Exploration (LON:WSX) which also has a 1.25 interest.
The venture is primarily being pursuing by a group of three majors. Shell is the operator and largest stakeholder with a 45 per cent interest, while Tullow and Total own 27.5 and 35 per cent respectively.
The Zaedyus exploration well last year made a significant discovery in the Guyane offshore area. It encountered 72 metres of net oil pay in two turbidite fans. Importantly this proved that as anticipated the Jubilee play was mirrored across the Atlantic from West Africa.
Tullow believes that Guyane discovery could be larger than its Jubilee oilfield in Ghana and it is thought that the new discovery could contain ‘1 billion barrels or more’ of recoverable oil.