Tullow starts shooting seismic near Exxon’s Liza discovery

London-based independent oil player Tullow Oil has started a 2,550 km2 seismic survey on the Orinduik Block offshore Guyana.

Tullow is the operator of the block with a 60 percent stake and Eco Atlantic is its partner with the remaining 40 percent interest. The survey was approved by the partners last month.

It is being conducted by Schlumberger Guyana Inc. (Western Geco) using R/V GECO Eagle and two supporting vessels, and is expected to be completed within 50 days following which the results will be interpreted, Eco Atlantic informed on Wednesday.

The Orinduik Block is located up dip and just a few kilometers from Exxon’s recent Liza and Payara discoveries confirming, by Exxon’s estimates, between 2.25 and 2.75 billion barrels of recoverable oil. Just yesterday, Exxon reported it discovered additional oil in the Payara reservoir, increasing the total Payara discovery to approximately 500 million oil-equivalent barrels.

Eco Atlantic and Tullow have completed the first phase of exploration including evaluating all existing and regional 2D data. Following the results of this study and the ongoing regional success, both parties have agreed to accelerate and significantly increase the originally proposed 1,000 km2 3D survey commitment on the block to circa 2,550 km2, thus covering the entire block area, fully overlapping current prospective 2D leads and downdip trends.

Tullow will carry Eco Atlantic’s share of the originally proposed 1,000 km2 of the survey, at a cap of $1.25 million, with the balance of the program being funded by both parties on a pro-rata basis. The additional cost of the enhanced seismic program to Eco is well covered by existing cash resources, following the company’s over-subscribed placing of £5.1 million announced in February 2017 in conjunction with its dual listing on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

Colin Kinley, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Eco Atlantic, commented: “As previously announced and planned, we are excited to commence this significant 3D survey, which is substantially greater than the committed survey. In addition to further defining and de-risking the existing leads, the survey will hopefully better define potential drilling targets and determine the scale of the resource on the Orinduik Block.”