Eco (Atlantic) Oil and Gas Ltd. was pleased to announce this morning that it’s updated Competent Persons Report (“CPR”) for the Orinduik Block offshore Guyana was finally completed by Gustavson Associates LLC, of Boulder Colorado, USA, an independent third-party auditor. In its missive to the press, the company noted that the updated report speaks of a 29 percent increase in the block’s gross prospective resource, taking it to 5.14 billion barrels.
Further to this, Eco and it’s other Orinduik Block partners, Tullow and Total, indicated that its Executives have an Operations Committee meeting scheduled in early February 2020 to evaluate recent drilling results, define drilling targets, and consider the budgets and dates for future drilling. In late 2019, the Joint Venture Partners approved a provisional budget for 2020 subject to Joint venture drilling approvals.
Speaking to it’s financial position, Eco Atlantic disclosed that it has a robust cash position, with over US $20 million cash and cash equivalents (as at 30 September 2019), and is fully funded for its share of further appraisal and exploration drilling at Orinduik of up to US$120m (gross).
In his comments to the media, Colin Kinley, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Eco Atlantic, commented, “…The understanding of our resources has gained strength and momentum with the discoveries we made in the Tertiary last summer and the recent discovery of light oil in Carapa-1, made on the Kanuku block to the south of us. This has also been driven by the discoveries of over eight billion barrels of oil immediately East of us by ExxonMobil.”
Kinley said that the partners’ choice was to first test the Tertiary section and to take the risk of opening a new play and a new opportunity for Guyana. As previously announced, this younger section delivered a significant resource of heavy oil pay at the Jethro and Joe wells.
The Eco Atlantic Co-founder noted that Heavy oil is more challenging to produce than conventional lighter oils, but remains a marketable hydrocarbon with increasing demand world-wide, as other heavy oil resources have dropped offline. He further noted that interpretation of this play has continued and has seen material growth in the interpreted resources. He also said that the company is conducting in depth evaluation of the economics of this play, with independent third party economic advisory support.
The COO said, “We have seen a growth of the overall oil numbers with the thickness of section and a greater understanding of the areal extent and thicknesses of our sands. Most importantly, however, is our exploration risking, with confirmation that over half of our 22 leads now have an independently assessed 30% or greater COS. Our confidence in the play continues and was greatly enhanced with the now proven light oil in the Cretaceous section immediately to the south.”
In Guyana, Eco Guyana holds a 15% working interest alongside Total (25%) and Tullow Oil (60%) in the 1,800 km2 Orinduik Block in the shallow water of the prospective Suriname-Guyana basin. The Orinduik Block is adjacent and updip to ExxonMobil and Hess Corporation’s Stabroek Block, on which sixteen discoveries have been announced and over 8 Billion BOE of oil equivalent recoverable resources are estimated. First oil production commenced in December, 2019, from the deep-water Liza Field, less than 3 years from FID.
Jethro-1 was the first major oil discovery on Orinduik Block. The Jethro-1 encountered 180.5 feet (55 meters) of net high-quality oil pay in excellent Lower Tertiary sandstone reservoirs which further proves recoverable oil resources. Joe-1 is the second discovery on the Orinduik Block and comprises 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 which further proves the presence of recoverable oil resources.
