LONDON (SHARECAST) - A joint venture between Tullow Oil and Royal Dutch Shell has made an oil discovery at its Zeadyus exploration well, 150km offshore French Guiana.
The Guyana Maritime permit said it has encountered 72m of net oil pay in two turbidite fans, and the results of drilling and sampling show "good quality reservoir sands on prognosis."
The operator Tullow, owns a 27.5% interest in the licence, while Shell holds a 45% stake. French giant Total owns a 25% interest, while Northpet (50%-owned by Northern Petroleum and 50%-owned by Wessex Exploration) holds a 2.5% interest. The Northpet owners saw their share prices rocket 29% and 36%, respectively, on Friday morning.
"The objective of the Zaedyus well was to test whether the Jubilee-play, successfully established in West Africa, was mirrored on the other side of the Atlantic. This discovery therefore opens a new hydrocarbon basin within which several neighbouring prospects have been mapped," Tullow said.
Furthermore, the discovery is said to reduce the exploration risk associated with the firm's prospect inventory offshore French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana.
Dave Lawrence, Shell's executive vice president of Exploration and Commercial, said, "We are pleased with the preliminary results of this first ever deepwater well offshore French Guiana. We are early in the evaluation, but the initial results are encouraging for this new play. The joint venture will continue to drill ahead, evaluate the well results, and determine next steps."
Tullow's exploration director Angus McCoss commented, "The discovery at Zaedyus has proved the extension of the Jubilee-play across the Atlantic and made an important new discovery in French Guiana. Tullow has built a commanding and unique acreage position in South America and this result marks the start of a significant and potentially transformational long-term exploration and appraisal campaign in the region."
Shares in Tullow were given a boost on Thursday on the back of rumours that China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is eyeing up the firm.
http://www.sharecast.com/cgi-b...cgi?story_id=4499931
The Guyana Maritime permit said it has encountered 72m of net oil pay in two turbidite fans, and the results of drilling and sampling show "good quality reservoir sands on prognosis."
The operator Tullow, owns a 27.5% interest in the licence, while Shell holds a 45% stake. French giant Total owns a 25% interest, while Northpet (50%-owned by Northern Petroleum and 50%-owned by Wessex Exploration) holds a 2.5% interest. The Northpet owners saw their share prices rocket 29% and 36%, respectively, on Friday morning.
"The objective of the Zaedyus well was to test whether the Jubilee-play, successfully established in West Africa, was mirrored on the other side of the Atlantic. This discovery therefore opens a new hydrocarbon basin within which several neighbouring prospects have been mapped," Tullow said.
Furthermore, the discovery is said to reduce the exploration risk associated with the firm's prospect inventory offshore French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana.
Dave Lawrence, Shell's executive vice president of Exploration and Commercial, said, "We are pleased with the preliminary results of this first ever deepwater well offshore French Guiana. We are early in the evaluation, but the initial results are encouraging for this new play. The joint venture will continue to drill ahead, evaluate the well results, and determine next steps."
Tullow's exploration director Angus McCoss commented, "The discovery at Zaedyus has proved the extension of the Jubilee-play across the Atlantic and made an important new discovery in French Guiana. Tullow has built a commanding and unique acreage position in South America and this result marks the start of a significant and potentially transformational long-term exploration and appraisal campaign in the region."
Shares in Tullow were given a boost on Thursday on the back of rumours that China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is eyeing up the firm.
http://www.sharecast.com/cgi-b...cgi?story_id=4499931
