Frontera, CGX push back Guyana drilling by one year

Joint venture partners in the Corentyne block offshore Guyana – Frontera Energy and CGX Energy – have concluded collaborative discussions with the Government of Guyana concerning the rescheduling of the work commitments on the block.

Frontera said on Friday that the joint venture was committed to completing its exploratory commitments in full, despite operational activities in Guyana being severely affected for much of 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which delayed the JV’s exploration activities.

According to Frontera, the existing 27 November 2020 deadline for drilling of the next well on the Corentyne block will be extended to 27 November 2021, subject to documentation.

CGX is the operator of the Corentyne Block under a joint operating agreement with Frontera Energy. CGX has a 66.667% participating interest in the block, with Frontera holding the remaining 33.333% interest in the block.

To remind, CGX stated that it intended to drill one exploration well on the block and then follow that up with seismic processing. The company intended to use $11.2 million from rights offering to drill the Utakwaaka well on the Corentyne block by 27 November 2019.

In August 2019, CGX opted to utilize these funds to complete a seismic survey over the northern region of the Corentyne block and the remaining balance of funds would be used for its resequenced exploration well set for drilling by 27 November 2020.

According to the company, this resequencing would not change CGX’s overall work commitment on the Corentyne block, and may also involve other related projects but was supposed to better position the company in the long-term.