News Venezuela/Onshore Essequibo Guyana(quarter billion barils)3 Jan 2026 13:25
In addition to the onshore Suriname Basin, the small onshore Takatu Basin, located in southern Guyana, about 480 km (300 miles) off the coast, has attracted the interest of explorers for several decades. This basin extends westward into Brazil and separates the northern and southern geological provinces of Guyana.
Wells drilled in the basin include Lethem-1 (1980), Karanambo-1 (1982), Turantsink-1 (1992), and Apoteri K2 (2011), all of which have yielded unfavorable results, according to the Guyana Geological and Mining Commission (GGMC).
The Karanambo-1 well, drilled by the Home Oil Company of Canada, encountered oil in a fractured volcanic rock reservoir, producing 400 barrels per day during testing before running dry and being abandoned as uncommercial.
The crude oil was low in sulfur and paraffin, with an API gravity of 42 degrees. Light crude oils typically range between 35 and 45 degrees API, which includes most of the higher-priced crudes such as Brent and WTI. Guyana's Liza crude is classified as medium-sweet, with a sulfur content of 0.51% and an API gravity of 32.10 degrees.
Speculative reserves in the Takutu Basin are estimated at approximately a quarter of a billion barrels of low-sulfur, low-wax crude oil with an API gravity of 42.
Onshore oil blocks are available in th