Stena Carron drillship drilled the Guyana wildcat for ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil comes up dry in Guyana wildcat

Oil major ExxonMobil has failed to find commercial hydrocarbons at the Bulletwood-1 wildcat well in the Canje block located offshore Guyana.

Stena Carron drillship; Source: ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil started drilling the Bulletwood-1 well, using the Stena Carron Drillship, in early January 2021.

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The Canje Block is currently operated by an ExxonMobil subsidiary, Esso Exploration & Production Guyana Limited (35 per cent), with Total (35 per cent), JHI (17.5 per cent) and Mid-Atlantic Oil & Gas Inc. (12.5 per cent) as partners.

Westmount holds an indirect interest in the Canje Block as a result of its circa 7.7 per cent interest in the issued share capital of JHI. 

Following a 2018 farm-out to Total, JHI is carried for the drilling of up to four wells, including Bulletwood-1, and is funded for the drilling of additional wells.

Westmount Energy reported on Thursday that it has received a shareholder communication from its investee company, JHI Associates Inc. (JHI), which confirms that the first well on the Canje Block, Bulletwood-1, was safely drilled in 2,846 meters of water.

The well was drilled by the Stena Carron drillship to its planned target depth of 6,690 meters.

Canje block & Stabroek off Guyana - ExxonMobil
Canje block & Stabroek off Guyana; Source: ExxonMobil

The well encountered quality reservoirs but non-commercial hydrocarbons, according to Westmount.

Data collection at Bulletwood-1 confirms the presence of the Guyana-Suriname Basin petroleum system and the potential prospectivity of the Canje Block.

Bulletwood-1 was the first of three wells scheduled to be drilled on the block in 2021 with the drilling of the independent prospects Jabillo-1 and Sapote-1 to follow over the coming months.

Also this week, ExxonMobil revealed its capital spending in 2021 will be in the range of $16 billion to $19 billion and $20-$25 billion per year through 2025 on high-return, cash-accretive projects.

The company said its investment strategy would be prioritizing the highest-return opportunities.

“Our investments are expected to generate returns of greater than 30 per cent”, Darren Woods, ExxonMobil chairman and chief executive officer, said at the company’s annual investor day.