The Canadian oil exploration companies, CGX Energy Inc. and Frontera Energy Wednesday announced the discovery of oil at the Wei-1 well in the Corentyne block offshore Guyana.
They said that the latest discovery is approximately 200 kilometers offshore from Georgetown, Guyana.
“The Joint Venture has successfully finished drilling operations without any safety incidents and expects to release the drilling rig in early July 2023,” according to a statement issued by the two companies.
They said that the Wei-1 well encountered 210 feet of hydrocarbon bearing sands in the Santonian horizon and that they acquired wireline logs and extensive core samples from the Santonian, however, due to a tool failure down hole and a new tool not being available, oil samples were not obtained.
“The rock and fluid properties of the Santonian will now be analyzed by an independent third-party laboratory over the next 2-3 months to define net pay and a basis for the evaluation of this interval,” the statement said.
The two companies said said they have updated their previously announced discovery in the Maastrichtian and the Campanian intervals to 77 feet of net pay and that fluid samples were retrieved from the Campanian and Maastrichtian indicating the presence of light crude in the Campanian and sweet medium crude oil in the Maastrichtian.
They said data acquisition programme included wireline logging, MDT fluid samples and sidewall cores throughout the various intervals. Over the next few months, results will be integrated into the geologic and geophysical models to form an updated view of the entire northern portion of the Corentyne block.
The Guyana Ministry of Natural Resources, in a statement said the outcome of these evaluations will enable CGX Energy Inc. to ascertain whether the second discovery in the block holds potential for commercial interest.
“We eagerly await the results of this analysis,” it said, adding that this recent discovery marks a significant milestone in offshore Guyana’s exploration ndeavours, with a total of 45 findings since 2015, reaffirming the country’s hydrocarbon potential outside of the highly productive Stabroek Block.
The northern portion of the Corentyne block includes the channel complexes discovered by the Kawa-1 and Wei-1 wells, and a prospective central channel complex, which is yet to be evaluated.
The Canadian companies said they are excited by the definitive presence of oil in the Maastrichtian and Campanian and the presence of hydrocarbons in the Santonian and believes there is significant potential in the block.
CGX is a Canadian-based oil and gas exploration company focused on the exploration of oil in the Guyana Suriname Basin and the development of a deep-water port in Berbice, Guyana, while Frontera Energy Corporation is involved in the exploration, development, production, transportation, storage, and sale of oil and natural gas in South America, including related investments in both upstream and midstream facilities.(CMC)