Page 12 - LatAmOil Week 17 2022
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LatAmOil                                        SURINAME`                                           LatAmOil



       Hess COO says Shell will spud Zanderij-1




       exploration well at Block 42 in mid-2022






                         SHELL (UK) is gearing up to drill a new explo-  with Suriname’s national oil company (NOC)
                         ration well at the Block 42 licence area offshore   Staatsolie.
                         Suriname later this year, according to Hess (US),   Before Shell joined the project, the partners
                         a non-operating partner in the project.  drilled two exploration wells at Block 42. The
                           Greg Hill, Hess’ COO, explained during the   first well, Anapai-1, was spudded in the spring of
                         US independent’s first-quarter earnings call   2018. It experienced shallow borehole stability
                         on April 27 that Shell was aiming to spud Zan-  issues and had to be respudded as Anapai-1A in
                         derij-1 around mid-year. He did not specify the   June 2018, but it did not encounter commercial
                         location of the well but said it would target the   hydrocarbon deposits. The second well, Ponte-
                         Campanian and Santonian layers.      noe-1, was then spudded in October 2018 but
                           Shell and its partners are looking most   also did not result in a discovery, as it encoun-
                         closely at these strata to determine whether   tered a high-quality reservoir but contained
                         Block 42 may be an extension of Stabroek, the   mostly water.
                         massive block offshore Guyana where Exxon-  Hess has remained optimistic about Block 42
                         Mobil has made more than 20 commercial dis-  despite the failure of the two wells. ™
                         coveries since 2015, Hill explained. “We see the
                         acreage as a potential play extension from the
                         Stabroek block with similar play types and trap
                         styles,” he said.
                           He did not say whether Shell had contracted
                         a rig for the drilling project.
                           Hess joined the Block 42 project in 2016,
                         acquiring a 33.33% stake in the licence area
                         through a farm-in deal with the other two
                         shareholders, Chevron and Kosmos Energy,
                         both based in the US. This deal left the equity
                         split equally between the three partners, with
                         Kosmos acting as operator.
                           Shell then acquired Kosmos’ stake and oper-
                         atorship in late 2020.
                           The shareholders are carrying out the pro-
                         ject under a production-sharing contract (PSC)   Two exploration wells were drilled at Block 42 in 2018 (Image: Kosmos)




                                                     ARGENTINA
       Fernandez launches gas pipeline project





                         ARGENTINIAN President Alberto Fernández   industries could not grow without access to
                         marked the launch of construction work on the   energy supplies. By encouraging the growth of
                         Néstor Kirchner natural gas pipeline last week   the domestic energy sector, Argentina will make
                         during a ceremony at Loma Campana, a field in   itself more competitive and able to respond to
                         the Vaca Muerta shale formation. The project,   external fluctuations and crises, the president
                         which is expected to cost around $3.4bn, will be   declared.
                         financed mostly by the National Treasury.  The new pipeline will play a crucial role in the
                           “We’re sitting on large amounts of gas here   process by expanding the country’s gas trans-
                         today, which are of no use to us if we can’t   portation capacity and helping producers meet
                         transport [them],” Fernández stated during an   rising domestic demand, he explained.
                         address at the ceremony.               Economy Minister Martín Guzmán spoke
                           He went on to refer to the project as an   similarly, calling the pipeline the “most impor-
                         important precursor for economic growth   tant infrastructure project in Argentina” in a
                         in Argentina, explaining that the country’s   recorded message from Washington.



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