Prospects for an aggressive stepping up of the oil search in the Guyana/Suriname basin in a bid to further enhance the world-class oil discoveries made in that region in recent years now appear to loom large after the London-based multinational oil company, Tullow Oil, announced this week that it will be following what a February 1 Caribbean Business Report describes as “a year of relative inactivity” with the resumption of drilling activity in the basin in the region this year “in an area where it has already recorded one discovery of “high-quality crude offshore Guyana” with imminent commencement of “drilling of Goliathberg-Voltzberg North (GVN-1) exploration well in Block 47 in Suriname.”
The report says that “work also continues on developing the prospect inventory on the Orinduik and Kanuku, the company’s licences offshore Guyana.”
“Tullow has a busy year ahead as we begin implementing the business plan” the company’s CEO, Rahul Dhir is quoted in the news report as saying though it adds that the company’s modus operandi for project execution will proceed “with a view to reducing its cost and debt while generating positive cash flow and building a strong balance.”
Since this announcement the online oil & gas publication, Rigzone, announced that Tullow had, since January 26, “began spudding of GVN 1” on January 26, using the Stena Forth drillship.” Just over a year ago Tullow disclosed that it had discovered heavy crude in Guyana’s offshore Carapa Oil Well, though, shortly thereafter, it said that it would be discontinuing its drilling operations in the area and would instead would be reviewing the results of exploration carried out under separate exploration licences at Kanuku and Orinduik, in Guyana.
The disclosure of Tullow’s renewed drilling presence in the Guyana/Suriname basin is likely to increase the focus of attention by the global oil industry on the potential of the neighbouring South American republics to become serious players in the global oil & gas industry. Such prospects have already triggered initiatives by the two countries to explore the possibility of a measure of collaborative work in pursuit of their mutual goal of maximising returns from their respective potentially lucrative oil and gas industries.
While a territorial dispute arising out of the delimitation of Guyana’s maritime boundary with Suriname had created tensions, relations between the two have remained largely cordial over the years even though that condition of protracted cordiality has been punctuated by aggression-driven hostilities. Exchange visits by the presidents of the two countries in recent months have led to the signing of agreements some of which take account of prospects for collaboration between the two countries as they both contemplate the prospects of oil-driven improvements in their respective economies.
In its capacity as the operator of the Goliathberg-Voltzberg North (GVN-1) well, Tullow Oil owns 50 per cent rights to the block while its partners, Pluspetrol and Israel-based Ratio Petroleum hold holds 30 per cent and 20 per cent interests, respectively. According to an estimate from Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc, GVN-1 holds an estimated 235 million barrels of oil with a 34 per cent geological chance of success, the Caribbean Report story says.
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