Repsol Exploration commences drilling in Kanuku Block

One week after United Kingdom-based oil company Tullow spud its second well in the Orinduik Block offshore Guyana, Repsol Exploration, a Spanish oil company, has also commenced drilling in the Kanuku Block of the maritime zone.
The works commenced on Sunday at the Carapa 1 well site within the Kanuku Block and will conclude on November 30, 2019.
These operations will incorporate the use of MODU Rowan EXL-II and the OSV Bourbon Calm during this period.
The Maritime Administration in a notice said that the necessary signs and lights will be displayed to alert other vessels which have already been cautioned to maintain a wide berth of these vessels.
Once oil is found in this well, Repsol has said Guyana could benefit from as much as 60 per cent in oil profit, based on its Petroleum Agreement with the Government.
It is understood that the net cost of the Carapa well will cost US$20 million. Last week, a notice published in one of the daily newspapers said that Tullow will now be heading to the Joe-1 well site to drill. That operation, which will incorporate the use of the MODU Stena Forth drillship, is expected to conclude on December 31, 2019.
The Joe is located in approximately 650 metres of water and costs approximately US$3 million to drill. A recently published report from international company Gustavson Associates had estimated that the well has a 43.2 per cent chance of success.
About three weeks ago, Tullow announced a major oil find at the Jethro-1 exploration well in the Orinduik Block, becoming the second oil company to announce an oil find offshore Guyana. Jethro-1 well was drilled by the Stena Forth drillship to a total depth of 4400 metres in approximately 1350 metres of water. According to a statement from the company, evaluation of the logging data confirmed that Jethro-1 comprises high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs of Lower Tertiary age, which simply means they date back to millions of years ago. The well encountered 55M of net oil pay, which indicates a recoverable oil resource estimate that exceeds Tullow’s pre-drill forecast of 100 million barrels of oil.
News of the find created waves in financial centres around the world, as well as international news outlets. Tullow’s shares had jumped by over 19 per cent on the London Stock Exchange. In fact, it was the biggest gainer on the index.
The Orinduik oil block is just a few kilometres from Exxon’s discoveries in the Liza and Payara fields.
In April, ExxonMobil made its 13th discovery offshore Guyana at the Yellowtail-1 well. Two months prior, the US super major made double oil discoveries at the Tilapia-1 and Haimara-1 well in the South-west section of the Stabroek Block. Yellowtail-1, located some six miles North-west of the Tilapia discovery, encountered approximately 292 feet of high quality oil bearing sandstone reservoir.
That discovery adds to the previously announced estimated recoverable resource of approximately 5.5 billion oil-equivalent barrels on the Stabroek Block. Yellowtail-1 is the fifth discovery in the Turbot area, which ExxonMobil expects to become a major development hub.