Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 32 2021

LatAmOil GUYANA LatAmOil

ExxonMobil seeks green light for

12-well drilling campaign at Canje

GUYANA’S Environmental Protection Agency be drilled at a site about 100 km south-east of
(EPA) said at the weekend that ExxonMobil Jabillo-1. This location is also 50 km north of
Guyana, a subsidiary of the US-based super-ma- Haimara, a section of the Stabroek block where
jor ExxonMobil, had requested permission to ExxonMobil encountered about 63 metres of gas
launch a 12-well drilling programme at the off- condensate-bearing sandstone reservoirs in an
shore Canje block. exploration well, and 60 km north-west of Maka
In a statement, EPA reported that ExxonMo- Central, a section of Block 58 offshore Suriname
bil Guyana had submitted a request for environ- where TotalEnergies (France) encountered
mental authorisation for its campaign. It did not about 50 metres of oil-bearing sandstone reser-
divulge the details of the application or identify voirs in another exploration well.
the sections of the block where the company Equity in the Canje project is divided
hopes to drill. between ExxonMobil, with 35%; TotalEner-
It did say, though, that it had already deter- gies (France), with 35%; JHI (Canada), with
mined through an initial screening that the 17.5%, and Mid-Atlantic Oil & Gas (Guyana),
company would not have to perform a for- with 12.5%. JHI used to have a larger stake in
mal environmental impact assessment (EIA). the block, but it reduced its equity holdings via
“The agency determined that the project will a farm-out deal with TotalEnergies in 2018. Eco
not significantly affect the environment and is (Atlantic) Oil & Gas recently gained an indirect
therefore, exempt from the requirement of an stake in the project via its acquisition of a 6.4%
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA),” it stake in JHI. ™
stated.
Instead, it said, ExxonMobil Guyana will
have to prepare and submit an environmental
assessment and management plan (EAMP).
This plan will have to address certain issues and
potential problems identified during the screen-
ing process, and it must describe the mitigation
measures the company intends to take to ensure
that the project is executed in an environmen-
tally sound and sustainable way, it explained.
ExxonMobil Guyana and its partners have
already drilled two wells at Canje – Bullet-
wood-1 and Jabillo-1 – within the framework
of a three-well drilling programme. The former
well turned out to contain oil, but not in quan-
tities large enough to justify stand-alone devel-
opment. The latter, meanwhile, was a dry hole.
According to previous reports, the third
drilling target at Canje is Sapote-1, which will ExxonMobil has drilled two wells at the Canje block (Image: Westmount Energy)

Guyana OKs plan for more oversight

of land acquisition for oil projects

GUYANA’S National Assembly voted on of privately-owned land for major hydrocarbon
August 9 to approve the Petroleum (Production projects.
and Exploration) Amendment Bill-2021, a new The legislation was introduced into Parlia-
bill that aims to ensure appropriate government ment in the name of Natural Resources Minister
oversight of operations involving the acquisition Vickram Bharrat.

Week 32 12•August•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9