Jabillo-1 Well comes up dry, ExxonMobil moves onto Sapote-1 Well

No evidence of commercial hydrocarbons has been found in the Jabillo-1 well located in the Canje Block, offshore Guyana, and as such, the well will be plugged and abandoned, according to a statement from Eco (Atlantic) Oil and Gas Limited.

This information was also related by Westmount Energy Limited, an alternative investment market (AIM)-quoted oil and gas investing company that is focused on the Guyana- Suriname basin.

According to Westmount Energy, shareholder communication from JHI Associates Inc indicating that the Jabillo-1 well was safely drilled in 2,903 meters of water by the Stena Carron drillship to its planned target depth of 6,475 meters. The well, however, did not encounter commercial hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons form the basis of natural gas and crude oil, among other fossil fuels.

The Canje block is operated by ExxonMobil and is held by working interest partners- Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (35 per cent), Total E&P Guyana B.V. (35 per cent), JHI Associates Inc (17.5 per cent) and Mid-Atlantic Oil and Gas Inc. This block lies 180 kilometres offshore Guyana in deep to ultra-deep water.

The Jabillo-1 well was spudded in March, after it was estimated to hold one billion barrels per day of oil prospect. Spudding is the beginning process of drilling an oil well.

With this Jabillo-1 well turning up dry, the focus of the ExxonMobil-operated drilling in the Canje block will now switch to the Sapote-1 well, which is located more than 100 kilometres to the southeast.

It is expected that this well will be drilled in a new depositional setting, linked to the Berbice canyon system, and closer to Upper Cretaceous discoveries in the Stabroek Block and Suriname’s Block 58.

“Sapote-1 is an independent multi-layer prospect, which will evaluate several Upper Cretaceous targets, and is potentially the largest prospect drilled on the Canje block to date. Current guidance indicates that Sapote-1 will be spudded in mid-August using the Stena DrillMAX drillship with results anticipated in mid-October,” Westmount Energy stated.

In a statement, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Eco Atlantic, Gil Holzman commented that the update on the Jabillo-1 well is “disappointing” but noted that such occurrences as “the nature of oil exploration.”

Holzman also related that drilling at Sapote-1 will soon commence and posited that the targets in the region have proven to hold some hundreds of millions of barrels of oil and oil equivalent, which has resulted in the expectation of similar scaled results from this upcoming well.

“I have a great confidence that our Canje Block exposure will yield great returns and oil discoveries as it also paves the way to a broader exposure and collaboration in the Guyana-Suriname Basin.’,” the CEO stated.