ExxonMobil goes back to drilling Guyana well

Oil major ExxonMobil has restarted drilling operations at the Jabillo-1 wellsite on the Canje Block, offshore Guyana, using the Stena Carron drillship.

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 (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 Associates. Following a 2018 farm-out to Total, JHI is carried for the drilling of the Jabillo-1 well and is funded for the drilling of additional wells.

In an update on Monday, Westmount Energy noted the announcement by the Maritime Administration Department, Guyana that the Stena Carron drillship would restart exploration drilling operations at the Jabillo-1 wellsite on 5 June 2021.

Jabillo-1 is the second of three exploration wells scheduled for drilling on the Canje block in 2021. Jabillo-1 is a circa 1,000 MMbbl oil prospect targeting a Late Cretaceous, Liza-age equivalent, basin floor fan.

As previously reported, ExxonMobil started getting ready to drill the Jabillo-1 well following the completion of the Bulletwood-1 earlier this year.

The Stena Carron had been scheduled to start drilling operations at the Jabillo-1 well site on 10 March 2021. First, the top-hole section was drilled. Following maintenance, the operations have now resumed, according to information from Westmount.

The well site is situated approximately 141 nautical miles (261 kilometres) from the coast of Guyana and covers an area of 0.29 square nautical miles (1 square kilometre). The notice by Guyana’s Maritime Administration Department stated Stena Carron will be engaged in drilling activities which will conclude on 30 July 2021.