Guyana: Total completes Orinduik block farm-in

French oil major Total has completed the acquisition of a 25 percent working interest in the Orinduik block offshore Guyana.

Total had an option to acquire a 25% working interest in the block from Eco Atlantic, one of the partners in the Tullow-operated block. The French company exercised the option in September 2018.

Eco Atlantic said on Wednesday that it completed the farm-out agreement with Total’s subsidiary, Total E&P Activités Pétrolières.

The company added that all required government authorizations were obtained, the relevant partners’ approvals were executed, and the necessary government transfer fees were paid.

Accordingly, Total on Tuesday transferred to Eco the balance of $12.5 million for the 25% working interest in the block.

Following the completion of the transaction, the operator Tullow retains its 60 percent interest, with Total now holding 25 percent while Eco Atlantic is holding the remaining 15 percent.

Colin Kinley, COO of Eco, said: “We are pleased to confirm that the farm-out to Total is now complete and this allows us to progress efficiently to the next stage of exploration. The company has advanced quickly through the stages of 2D interpretation and 3D surveying, processing, and interpretation.

“Now, with Total on board and being fully funded to drill, we look forward to moving ahead, finalizing drilling targets and approving the 2019 drilling budget for Orinduik.

“We have remained well ahead of our committed schedule […] and we look forward to advancing through drilling – years in advance of our committed timing under the terms of the Orinduik license.”

Gil Holzman, CEO of Eco, added: “The completion of this farm-out to Total is not just the culmination of years of hard work from the Eco team, who identified Orinduik as a high-grade opportunity even before ExxonMobil’s Liza discovery on the adjacent Stabroek block, but is also the beginning of an exciting period where we can now work officially alongside two world-class partners, Tullow and Total, to determine drilling targets for at least one well and potentially more on Orinduik in mid-2019.

“Having now received the $12.5 million from Total for their 25% working interest […] we are fully funded for next year’s drilling program.”

It is worth noting that a competent persons report identified potential for almost three billion barrels of oil equivalent on the Orinduik block.

The 1,800 km2 Orinduik Block is located in the shallow water of the prospective Suriname-Guyana basin. The block is adjacent and updip to the deep-water Liza Field and Snoek, Payara, Pacora, Turbot, Longtail and Hammerhead-1 Discoveries, recently discovered by ExxonMobil and Hess, which is estimated to contain in excess of 4.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, making it one of a handful of billion-barrel discoveries in the last half-decade.