Upstream article out tonight7 Sep 2018 00:33
Tullow Oil’s partner in the Orinduik block off Guyana, Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas, is confident of landing a farm-in deal with Total after ExxonMobil’s latest discovery on the adjacent Stabroek block “substantially de-risked” at least one of their own prospects, writes Eoin O'Cinneide.
The French supermajor has an option to take 25% of Eco’s 40% stake in Orinduik, where the partners will soon begin selecting prospects and operator Tullow aims to start drilling in the third quarter of next year.
ExxonMobil late last week revealed it had made an oil discovery at the Hammerhead-1 well on Stabroek, its ninth find on the prolific tract to date.
The well is the closest to Orinduik drilled to date on Stabroek, with Eco saying the discovery “ has now materially de-risked one of the many similar channel systems”.
Eco chief executive Gil Holzman told Upstream that, when the company and Tullow shot 3D seismic on their block last year, they gained permission from ExxonMobil to shoot across the boundary from Orinduik to get a better understanding of the play either side of the blocks.
“We see the prospect, which we call Latuk, that stretches and covers Hammerhead and goes into our Orinduik block — it is the same prospect in many ways,” Holzman said of the most easterly prospect so far identified on Orinduik and next door to Hammerhead.
“The Latuk prospect in particular was substantially de-risked with this discovery, simply because it is the same play,” he said, adding it is just six or seven kilometres up-dip of Hammerhead.
“The good news about the Hammerhead-1 discovery is that the sands there are much thicker than we originally thought.”
Tullow and Eco will “in the next few weeks” publish a competent persons report on Orinduik, based on a full data interpretation, where all prospects and a resource estimate will be provided.
Once Eco turns in all the interpreted data to Total, the French giant has 120 days in which to exercise its option to farm in, with Holzman confident it will do so.
“I think it is inevitable. I don’t see any slight chance that they will not exercise the option.”
If Total decides not to farm in, Holzman said there is plenty of other industry interest.
“There is a line of big companies that are waiting behind the door to come in if Total for whatever reason will not exercise the option,” he said. “Majors, supermajors, large independents, mid-tier, smaller companies — everyone that ever heard the name ‘Guyana’ is lining up.”
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