Page 14 - LatAmOil Week 33

LatAmOil GUYANA LatAmOil

Equity in the Kaieteur block is divided between chairman, as saying: “Tanager-1 is the first well
Esso Production & Exploration Guyana, a in a potential multi-well drilling campaign being
subsidiary of ExxonMobil, with 35%; Cataleya operated by ExxonMobil on the Kaieteur and
Energy (Canada), with 25%; Ratio Guyana, a Canje Blocks over the next 6 to 12 months. This
subsidiary of Ratio Petroleum, with 25%; and campaign will evaluate high impact Upper Cre-
the US independent Hess, with 10%. taceous prospects in the Liza play fairway with,
Westmount Energy, a London-listed hold- in some cases, multiple stacked reservoir targets.
ing company that owns a 5.4% stake in Cata- It also provides Westmount shareholders expo-
leya Energy, as well as a 0.7% stake in Ratio sure to a portfolio of drilling outcomes over a
Petroleum, issued a statement that hailed the compressed timeframe.
imminent start of exploration drilling at the “Success from some of the wells in this port-
Tanager-1 site. folio could result in transformational value
It quoted Gerard Walsh, Westmount’s changes for Westmount.” ™

BRAZIL
Brazil’s ANP gives majors

more time for wildcatting

THE National Agency of Petroleum, Natural operators to scale back their operations in other
Gas and Biofuels (ANP), the Brazilian govern- areas. In April of this year, for example, Petro-
ment’s hydrocarbon market regulator, has given bras and another company sought permission
major companies including Petrobras, Total and from ANP to mothball 29 oilfields that have
BP more time for wildcatting activity, owing to a combined output of 65,000 barrels per day
the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and (bpd). They did so in response to the decline in
low oil prices. energy demand that followed the coronavirus
The agency has approved nine-month exten- outbreak. ™
sions for a total of 29 areas and is analysing a
further 19 requests to extend exploratory activ-
ities in Brazil, one of the countries that has been
worst hit by the outbreak. It did so after receiv-
ing requests from 12 firms to extend exploratory
deadlines in 48 areas.
State-run Petrobras made a total of 10
requests for licence areas that included BM-S-
51, a block in the Santos Basin that was recently
put on sale, and appraisal programmes at its
deepwater concessions in the Sergipe-Alagoas
Basin.
The company also gained more time to con-
clude exploration in the BM-S-50 block in the
Santos Basin, among others.
Meanwhile, France’s Total gained additional
time for its exploration activities at five blocks
in the Foz do Amazonas Basin. Work at these
blocks has proceeded more slowly than antici-
pated, owing to problems with obtaining envi-
ronmental permits.
UK-based BP was also granted an extension
for its BM-C-35 block in the Campos Basin. The
ANP is reportedly reviewing BP’s requests for
more time to explore the C-M-793 and C-M-
755 blocks in the Campos Basin and the S-M-
1500 area in the Santos Basin.
Norway’s Equinor, Canada’s Alvopetro,
Chile’s GeoPark and local player Phoenix were
among the other companies to lodge requests
for extensions.
The pandemic has also led upstream The extensions will affect drilling in several offshore basins (Image: Spectrum)

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 33 19•August•2020