Eco Atlantic Reports Drillship Mobilisation At Orinduik Joint Venture

Exploration firm Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd said Monday it had mobilised a drillship for its offshore Guyana joint venture with the ship expected to arrive on site by late June.

The Stena Forth drillship is now en route to Guyana from West Africa and is expected to reach the offshore Orinduik block on or around June 24 and spud the Jethro Lobe prospect on or around June 26.

Eco holds a 15% interest in the Orinduik block. Tullow Oil holds a further 60% interest in Orinduik and Total SA the remaining 25%.

Stena Forth will undertake a two-well campaign at Orinduik. The first is the Jehtro Lobe prospect with the Joe prospect - a few kilometres away from Jethro Lobe - afterwards.

"The mobilization of the Stena Forth is the final stage of a long, conservative and quality-controlled process to plan and drill the initial two wells on Orinduik," Eco Chief Operating Officer Colin Kinley said.

Eco emphasised it currently held USD35 million in cash balances following the USD17 million share placing in early April. This will provide enough funds for the exploration of Jethro Lobe and Joe as well as "up to a further six" exploration sites.

"The Block licence was applied for in March 2014 and was awarded to Eco and Tullow in January 2016 with a first well commitment for 2021/2022," Kinley added. "With 13 discoveries, so far totalling over 5.5 billion barrels of oil on Exxon's adjacent Stabroek Block in the past three years, and with our strong commitment to Guyana, the joint venture partners have since expedited and significantly expanded their work programme far beyond and ahead of the committed requirements."

"The two wells will test both the upper and lower tertiary aged turbidites, while Jethro will also be drilled down to the Cretaceous section," Kinley continued. "Our focus is on near-term oil production and we have ordered our exploration programme around risking, development and deliverability of oil for the people of Guyana and our stakeholders."

Shares in Eco Atlantic were 1.8% higher at 77.90 pence on Monday.

Source: lse.co.uk