CGX to drill Wei-1 well in Corentyne block in July
– also announces plugging of Kawa-1 well
Canadian-based oil explorer CGX Resources Incorporated is set to start drilling its Wei-1 well in the Corentyne Block offshore Guyana in July 2022, but it has also decommissioned another well, the Kawa-1 well.
In a notice in which the company sought information on potential contractors for a number of support services, including offshore support vessels, CGX noted that drilling of the Wei-1 well in the Corentyne block will begin in July 2022 and last for between three and four months.
CGX is currently seeking offshore support vessels, directional drilling services and Tubular Running Services (TRS). Requests for Information on potential suppliers, according to CGX in their notices, are due on March 16.
In their notices, CGX also urged interested companies to register with the Local Content Secretariat of the Ministry of Natural Resources. The Secretariat, a necessary cog within the Local Content Act passed last year, will be managing a Local Content Registry containing the names of Guyanese nationals who can service the oil industry.
The government has explained that, by using the Supplier Registration Portal, a Guyanese national or Guyanese company can apply for, and be issued with, a Certificate of Registration from the Secretariat for the supply of goods and/or the provision of services for petroleum operations in Guyana.
Kawa-1
When it comes to the Kawa-1 well, which was spud last year, CGX announced in a statement on Friday that it had plugged the well and abandoned it. According to CGX, they had never intended to keep the Kawa-1 well active.
“Kawa-1 was a first stage exploration well intended to identify the presence of hydrocarbons, which occurred. The well was then decommissioned by way of safely plugging and abandoning it, standard practice and planned event. The Kawa-1 well was never intended to be kept active following completion of the successful drilling campaign,” they said in their statement.
Back in May 2019, the former Government had approved a Strategic Joint Venture between CGX Energy Inc and Frontera Energy Corporation to farm into two shallow-water offshore Petroleum Prospecting Licences for the Corentyne and Demerara Blocks – both of which are adjacent to ExxonMobil’s Stabroek Block, where multiple discoveries have been made. The farm-in joint venture allowed Frontera to acquire a 33.333 per cent working interest in the two blocks.
The Kawa-1 well, which is approximately 200 kilometres offshore Georgetown, was expected to de-risk multiple prospects in the Corentyne Block. Both the Corentyne and Demerara Blocks have been in CGX’s hand for some time without being drilled.
Last month, CGX and its Joint Venture partner, who had previously announced a find of 177 feet of oil-bearing reserves in the Kawa-1 well, had revised that figure upwards following additional tests.
According to the Joint Venture partners, the new figure had been confirmed to be 200 feet of oil-bearing reserves in the well. The revision came about after they would have analyzed logs and samples, to provide an update on the find.
“As a result of the initial positive results at the Kawa-1 exploration well, the Joint Venture will focus on the significant exploration opportunities in the Corentyne Block and will not engage in drilling activities on the Demerara Block in 2022, as previously outlined by press release on February 16, 2021.”
“Kawa-1 early-stage Wireline Logging results confirm the Logging While Drilling (LWD) indications previously disclosed on January 31, 2022 with a total of 200 feet of net pay encountered at multiple depths. Further analyses of logs and samples are ongoing. The Joint Venture will provide an update when these activities are complete,” the joint venturers had also said.
CGX and Frontera Energy had previously commissioned an independent report which had revealed that they are potentially sitting on 4.9 million Barrels of Oil Equivalent (BOE) in the Demerara and Corentyne, Guyana oil blocks under their control.