Total Buys Stakes In Blocks Offshore Guyana

Total has bought stakes in some offshore Guyana oil production blocks, boosting its presence in the potentially lucrative Guyana Basin.

The French major said it was buying a 35% working interest in the Canje Block in an agreement signed with an affiliate of Canadian company JHI Associates Inc. and Guyana-based Mid-Atlantic Oil & Gas Inc. These two companies will retain a shared 30% interest alongside operator ExxonMobil, which has a 35% stake.

Total has also bought a 25% working interest stake in the Kanuku Block in an agreement with Repsol and Tullow Oil. Repsol and Tullow each have stakes of 37.5% in that block.

Total added it had an option to buy a 25% working interest in the Orinduik Block in an agreement with Canadian company Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd, which will retain a 15% interest following exercise of the option, alongside Tullow Oil which has 60%.

Erin Discovers Hydrocarbons At Oyo-NW Well Offshore Nigeria

Erin Energy Corp. said on Jan. 31 it has completed the drilling of the Oyo-NW well and discovered hydrocarbons in the Miocene Formation.

The well is located about 9.5 km (5.9 miles) northwest of the Oyo Central Field on the company’s offshore Nigeria Block 120.

The Miocene Formation is where several of Erin Energy’s neighbors have discovered billions of barrels of hydrocarbons and from which several hundred thousand barrels per day are produced offshore Nigeria. The company is currently completing well-suspension activities so it can re-enter the well in the future for possible production.

The well was successfully drilled to the proposed total vertical depth subsea (TVDSS) of 12,218 ft (3724 m) and penetrated multiple sand units with total gross thickness of 260 ft (79 m) in the depth range from 7,052 ft (2,149 m) to 10,873 ft (3,314 m) TVDSS as interpreted from wireline log data.

Preliminary evaluation of the well data shows that the two main sand units, the Miocene U7.0 and U8.0, with a gross thickness of approximately 83.6 ft (about 25 m) are hydrocarbon-bearing. Work has commenced to estimate the discovered volumes and to determine the relevant appraisal and development program.

Shell Hits Oil In Deepwater US GoM’s Perdido Area

Shell Offshore Inc. said it has made one of its largest discoveries in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM), hitting more than 427 m (1,400 net ft) of oil-bearing pay in the Perdido area.

Located in Alaminos Canyon Block 772 near the Shell-operated Silvertip Field and Perdido platform, the Whale discovery is in about 2,438 m (8,000 ft) of water. Drilling operations for the well were completed in June 2017 to a depth of about 6,995 m (22,948 ft), Shell said in a news release.

The company said evaluation of the discovery is ongoing, and appraisal drilling is underway to further delineate the discovery and define development options.

The discovery adds to Shell’s Paleogene exploration success in the Perdido area. The company has added more than 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources through exploration in the last decade in the GoM, the release said.

Whale is operated by Shell (60%) and co-owned by Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (40%).

Total, Chevron Make Major Deepwater Oil Discovery In GoM

Total said Jan. 30 that it and operator Chevron Corp. had made a significant oil discovery at the Ballymore prospect in the deep offshore in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, its largest discovery in the area.

An assessment of the resource estimate was ongoing, the company said, adding that the discovery will bolster Total's new exploration strategy put in place since 2015.

The Ballymore prospect covers four blocks in the Norphlet play in the Mississippi Canyon area, including Block MC 607 where the discovery was made.

Total’s acquisition of a 40% working interest in Ballymore was part of an exploration agreement along with Chevron, which has 60%, signed in September 2017.

—Staff & Reuters Reports