Page 36: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Nov/Dec 2019)

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FEATURE Exploration

In 2019 Tullow Oil made two high-profile oil discoveries on the Orinduik block, opening a new Upper Tertiary oil play in the Guyana offshore basin. Joe-1 and Jethro-1 were drilled by drillship Stena Forth.

Source: Tullow Oil “Brazil is on the verge of a revival in exploration activity perception of Mexico’s deepwater exploration potential and in 2020, thanks in particular to the high interest shown by will determine the growth in activity in near term,” Patel said.

major oil and gas companies in the pre-salt province be- Brown noted, “Shell’s ? rst deepwater well of Mexico neath the deep waters of the Santos and Campos basins,” spuds in early December, and is due to complete in Febru- said Patel, who also counts the South American country ary. Chibu-1EXP will be drilled in more than 2,700 meters among 2020 hotspots. “International players have picked of water and is the ? rst of 13 that Shell has committed to up acreages in Brazil’s offshore licensing rounds during last drill in the Campeche Basin.” two years by paying huge signature bonuses – totaling in In South Africa, Total will drill another exploration well billions. It can be inferred that big players seem to be quite in the 11B/12B block in the ? rst quarter after opening up a optimistic on the prospectivity in the region. The com- new play with the approximately 1 billion barrel Brulpadda mitments from the recent licensing rounds are expected prospect in the Outenqiua basin this year, Brown said.

to trigger a surge in exploration drilling in the region with “Meanwhile, perhaps less discussed, is activity off South- numerous high impact wells already on cards.” ern Australia. Cooper Energy’s Annie-A discovery in shallow

Elsewhere in South America, “Tullow’s success with the waters was the ? rst in the basin for 11 years,” Brown said.

Jethro and Joe probes, despite containing relatively heavy Patel said, “Australia is witnessing a comeback in off- oil, should eventually open up a second play off Guyana,” shore exploration in 2019 and 2020. After [Santos’] recent

Brown said. The independent operator will drill three ex- Dorado discovery and the subsequent successful appraisal ploration wells off Guyana as it looks to de-risk the discov- drilling, there has been some optimism amongst explorers eries in the Orinduik block. focusing on the Australian waters. The North West shelf

Mexico is another hotspot, Patel said. “Mexico is ex- area, where the Dorado discovery was made in 2018, is pected to see an eventful 2020 as international companies going to drive the growth in exploration in 2020. Also, have lined up to ful? ll the pending well commitments on around three high impact wells are expected to be drilled the offshore acreages that they acquired in rounds 1 and 2. offshore North West Australia in 2020.

“Around 20 offshore exploration wells will be completed “Additionally, South and West Africa, Mediterranean in 2019 and we expect the 2020 well count to be in a simi- and Caribbean waters are also expected to witness increase lar range. The results of 2019 wells, particularly those in the in exploration drilling and licensing activities in 2020. less explored deepwater areas, will be watched closely by the These three regions also hold number of high-impact wells industry and they will play a large role in shaping industry’s expected to spud in 2020,” Patel said.

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