ExxonMobil is taking more time to nominate the prospect target for the second exploration well on the Kaieteur Block, offshore Guyana, its partners in the project said.
Westmount Energy, an indirect partner in the block on Monday cited Ration Petroleum, which owns a 25 percent stake in the offshore block, as saying that the date for elective nomination of the prospect target has been extended by seven months to March 22, 2022.
The original Kaieteur second well prospect nomination date was reportedly August 22, 2021, with any drilling consequent to this decision to start within nine months of the nomination date.
ExxonMobil last year made a non-commercial oil discovery at the Tanager-1 well, in the Kaieteur block, failing to replicate a string of successes made in the nearby Stabroek offshore block, where it has so far found more than nine billion barrels of oil.
The Tanager-1 exploration well, drilled by the Stena Carron Drillship, was the deepest well drilled in the Guyana-Suriname Basin to date. It was spudded on August 11, 2020, eventually reaching a total depth of 7,633 meters.
A post-well Netherland, Sewell & Associates Inc. published a report indicating that the Tanager-1 Maastrichtian discovery contained a 'Best Estimate' Unrisked Gross (2C) Contingent Oil Resource of 65.3 MMBBLs (Low to High Estimates 17.7 MMBBLs to 131 MMBBLs) - with a 'Best Estimate' Unrisked Net (2C) Contingent Oil Resource attributable to the Kaieteur Block of 42.7 MMBBLs (Low to High Estimates 11.3 MMBBLs to 86 MMBBLs).
Westmount said that the Kaieteur Block partners agreed to the decision to delay the nomination date, "to facilitate continuing analysis by the operator and integration of extensive multi-play drilling results and comprehensive data collection programs into regional petroleum system models and the prospect nomination decision."
Following the Tanager-1 discovery, Hess increased its working interest in the Kaieteur Block from 15% to 20% by acquiring a 5% WI from Cataleya Energy Limited ("CEL").
