Page 19 - LatAmOil Week 49

LatAmOil NEWS IN BRIEF LatAmOil

UPSTREAM onshore Argentina. which restricted production rates. However, the
As a result of the continued improvement seven-month shut in period and subsequent
Bahamas Petroleum of market conditions, the Company continues production start up has provided important
subsurface data to assess the field’s potential in
to successfully bring oil wells back into pro-
Co. responds to duction that had been shut in earlier this year. more detail. The Company now believes that
Since November 17, 2020, three additional there is also exciting commercial potential with
media speculation on Springhill fields and one Tobifera field have now future development wells targeting other parts of
been brought back online in the Chorrillos and the field. These will be assessed and included in
Perseverance well Palermo Aike licences increasing gross oil pro- the portfolio of production opportunities across
duction by around 50 bpd to approximately 300 the Santa Cruz Sur assets as the 2021 operational
Bahamas Petroleum Co. (BPC), the Caribbean bpd (circa 210 bpd net to Echo’s 70% interest). plan is progressed.
and Atlantic margin-focused oil and gas com- This recent increase in oil production represents Martin Hull, CEO of Echo Energy, com-
pany, with exploration, production, appraisal an uplift of approximately 19% across the Santa mented: “This has been a very busy period for
and development assets across the region, notes Cruz Sur assets. Gross gas production from Echo. Further to recent announcements on the
media speculation in The Bahamas to the effect Santa Cruz Sur continues at a rate of 14 mcf per debt restructuring and fundraise which have
that a number of environmental activists have day (10 mcf per day net to Echo’s 70% interest). provided Echo with a materially strengthened
filed an application in the Supreme Court of The The production levels from individual wells financial platform, and positive steps to recoup
Bahamas for leave to bring judicial review pro- previously shut in continues to indicate that and streamline our VAT payments in country, I
ceedings against the Government of The Baha- the shut in period has not had a determinantal am very pleased to announce that we have con-
mas, in relation to the Government’s decision to impact on reservoir behaviour. The programme tinued to reopen previously shut-in fields lead-
approve the drilling of the Perseverance-1 well. to restore previously shut-in production is ongo- ing to material production increases.
Apart from this media speculation, BPC ing and given these positive results, and contin- Across these fields, we are pleased to have
presently has no further knowledge in relation uing market improvements, the Company and seen no evidence of any reservoir deterioration
to this matter: BPC has not been served, and is its partners are reviewing options to accelerate as a result of the shut in periods and in the case
not aware that the Government of The Bahamas production reopening. of the Palermo Aike field, we have in fact seen
has been served. BPC will continue to monitor In addition, post-shut in production levels at a material increase in production levels. We see
the situation closely and will make a further the Palermo Aike field suggests that new oppor- significant potential for further field reopenings
announcement as and when it becomes aware of tunities may be available to capture additional and production optimisation activity across our
any material developments. production potential. In this field, post-shut in production assets both this year and throughout
BPC is currently on-track for drilling an pressure and production data indicate the poten- 2021 in what is shaping up to be a busy opera-
initial exploration well in The Bahamas, Perse- tial for significantly increased production levels tional period for the Company.’
verance-1, in late 2020 or early 2021, with the through a combination of production optimi- Echo Energy, December 08 2020
well targeting recoverable P50 prospective oil sation on the existing field and, later, with new
resources of 770mn barrels, with an upside of development wells. United Oil and Gas unveils
1.44bn barrels. With just the existing well stock, the data
Bahamas Petroleum Co., December 09 2020 indicates a gross production potential of new Prospective Resources
between 126 bpd and 189 bpd (88 bpd to 132
Echo Energy announces bpd net to Echo’s 70% interest) subject to availa- report for Walton Morant
bility of increased liquid storage and separation
operational update facilities at the field. This compares to an esti- licence offshore Jamaica
mated restricted gross production rate of 31 bpd
Echo Energy, the Latin American focused pre-shut in earlier this year. AIM-listed United Oil & Gas has announced the
upstream oil and gas company, has provided an The Palermo Aike field was historically over- results of an independent evaluation of Prospec-
update on operations at its Santa Cruz Sur blocks looked due to a lack of infrastructure in the area, tive Resources that has been prepared by Gaffney
Cline & Associates covering the Walton Morant
licence, offshore Jamaica, which is now held
100% by United.
Walton Morant Licence: United is the 100%
equity holder and operator of the Walton Morant
licence offshore Jamaica. The licence covers
22,400 square km. Some 11 wells have been
drilled to date (nine onshore, two offshore), and
all bar one contained hydrocarbon shows.
United were granted a 100% stake in the
licence in 2020 by the Jamaican Government.
This included an 18-month extension to the
Initial Exploration Period, with a drill-or-drop
decision required by January 31, 2022. As part
of this agreement, the Company was mandated
to carry out a low cost, geotechnical work pro-
gramme, building on the $30mn+ that has been
invested to date.

Week 49 10•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P19