Orinduik discovery stretches over 20 sq. km and full of oil - Eco Atlantic CEO

Orinduik discovery stretches over 20 sq. km and full of oil – Eco Atlantic CEO

Aug 16, 2019 News

After 40 days of drilling, the operators of the Orinduik Block finally stuck black gold at its Jethro-1 well. The Orinduik partners which include Tullow, Eco Atlantic and Total, encountered 180 feet of net pay of very high quality sandstone.

Eco Atlantic CEO, Gil Holzman

For those not familiar with the terminology, Holzman explained that this means the discovery represents a 15-storey building worth of sand that is fully soaked in oil and stretches over 20 square kilometers.
During a discussion with Proactive Investor, a leading source of in-depth financial news and share price data, Holzman noted that the thickness of this discovery surpassed the expectations of the Orinduik partners while noting that it has essentially de-risked all the tertiary sandstone plays on the block.
Holzman said, too, that the quality and porosity of the entire sandstone is soaked with oil which gives Eco Atlantic more confidence about what it can expect in the future.
The CEO further stated that the quality of the Jethro-1 find will also make appraisal simple, with less time to finish. He said, “This is only beginning…Once you understand the play after a discovery is made, it becomes easier to the professional team to pinpoint where the oil is accumulated.”
Additionally, Eco Atlantic is already benefitting from the mere announcement of the discovery since its share price doubled on Monday from 73p per share to trade just over 139p per share on the London Stock Exchange. The share price for Tullow also doubled on Monday after the news broke.
Holzman was quick to comment that the partners have multiple plays on the block with similar geological characteristics with the Joe prospect being the next well to be drilled.
Furthermore, Eco’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Co-Founder, Colin Kinley, commented that the Jethro-1 well confirms the continuance of the petroleum system onto the Orinduik Block, an up dip from the prolific discoveries on the
Exxon operated Stabroek Block. Kinley said that the well has resulted in a mitigation of risk of the presence of quality reservoir sands, seal and trap parameters. He also stated that the company has multiple drilling targets on the block with similar geophysical characteristics.
Kinley said that the company will be moving the Stena Forth drill ship immediately to its next target, the Joe-1 prospect which is just a short move to a shallower target, and is expected to spud mid-August.
ORINDUIK JV PARTNERS
In January 2016, Eco signed a Petroleum Agreement and is party to a Petroleum Licence with the Government of Guyana and Tullow Oil for the Orinduik Block offshore Guyana.
Tullow Oil as the Operator of the Block, paid past costs and carried Eco for the first 1000km2 of the 2550km2 3D Survey. Further, Tullow contributed an extensive 2D seismic data set and interpretation.
The Company’s 2550 km2 3D seismic survey was completed in September 2017, well within the initial four-year work commitment the Company made for the initial 1000km2.
In September 2017, Eco announced that its subsidiary, Eco Atlantic (Guyana) Inc. entered into an option agreement on its Orinduik Block with Total, a wholly owned subsidiary of Total S.A. Pursuant to the option.
Total paid an option fee of US$1 million to farm-in to the Orinduik Block. An additional payment of US$12,500,000 was made when Total exercised its option to earn 25 percent of Eco’s working interest in September 2018.
Following the exercise of the option by Total, the Block’s working interests became: Tullow – 60% (Operator), Total – 25% and Eco – 15%. In October, last, the Government approved of the Total farm-in on the Orinduik Block, which has the potential for almost three billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Just a few days ago however, Total sold 10 percent of its interest in the Orinduik Block to Qatar Petroleum. The government is still to grant approval for this farm-in by Qatar.