Operator of the Canje Block, ExxonMobil, is expected to restart its exploration operations on the Canje Block by May. This was recently revealed by UK Investment firm, Westmount Energy which holds an indirect interest in the offshore concession.
In its latest financial statement for 2021, Westmount recalled that the first well on the Canje block, Bulletwood-1, was spudded on December 31, 2020, using the Stena Carron drillship and was completed in early March. It noted that the well was safely drilled in a water depth of 2,846 metres to its planned target depth of 6,690 meters. Westmount noted too that the primary target in the well was a Campanian age confined channel complex but the hydrocarbons found were deemed to be noncommercial. Even though there has been limited disclosure of the well results to date as detailed analysis of the data collected is ongoing, the UK investment firm noted that the initial results confirm the presence of the Guyana-Suriname petroleum system and the potential prospectivity of the Canje Block.
Further to this, Westmount noted that initial drilling operations at the second well on the Canje block, Jabillo-1, commenced on March 14, 2021, using the Stena Carron drillship. After an interruption for a brief period of maintenance work on the drillship, Westmount said, “It is anticipated that drilling operations at Jabillo-1 will recommence in mid-late May 2021. Previously published information indicated that Jabillo-1 is a circa 1,000 million barrel oil prospect targeting a Late Cretaceous, Liza-age equivalent, basin floor.”
As for the third well on the Canje block, Guyana Standard understands that Sapote-1 will evaluate a large independent prospect in the southeast of the block and is currently scheduled for drilling, using the Stena DrillMax drillship, in the third quarter of 2021.
This news agency would have reported that Westmount holds an indirect interest in the Canje Block as a result of its 7.7% interest in the issued share capital of JHI Associates Inc. (“JHI”). Following a 2018 farm-out to Total, JHI is carried for the drilling of the Bulletwood-1 and Jabillo-1 wells and is funded for the drilling of additional wells.
The Canje Block is currently operated by an ExxonMobil subsidiary, Esso Exploration & Production Guyana Limited (35%), with Total (35%), JHI (17.5%) and Mid-Atlantic Oil & Gas Inc. (12.5%) as partners.
