Total, Apache strike 4th oil discovery offshore Suriname

New operators of Block 58 offshore the coast of Suriname, Total and Apache Corporation, have announced that they made a new significant oil and gas discovery at the Keskesi East-1 well.
In a statement on Thursday, the operators said this is the fourth discovery in the Block offshore the Suriname Coast with previous oil finds at Maka Central, Sapakara West and Kwaskwasi.
The Keskesi East-1 well was drilled by a water depth of about 725 metres and encountered a total of 63 metres net pay of hydrocarbons, comprised of 58 metres net black oil, volatile oil, and gas pay in good quality Campano-Maastrichtian reservoirs, along with 5 metres of net volatile oil pay in Santonian reservoirs, where wireline logging has just been performed. Drilling is still ongoing for deeper Neocomian-aged targets.
“We are delighted to announce this new discovery, which confirms this first exploration campaign as a full success and adds to the proven resource base,” said the Senior Vice President of Exploration at Total, Kevin McLachlan.
He added, “We are also excited, as new operator of the block, to start the appraisal operations designed to characterise the 2020 discoveries, while in parallel start a second exploration campaign on this prolific block in 2021.”
Total assumed operatorship of Block 58 on January 1, 2021, with a 50 per cent working interest. Upon completion of the operations on Keskesi East-1, the Noble Sam Croft drillship will be released.
Block 58 is connected to the Canje Block offshore Guyana, where exploration activities have commenced.
Only last week, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), a subsidiary of United States oil giant ExxonMobil, announced it started drilling an exploration well in the Canje Block offshore Guyana in what will be the first foray into that block in search of oil.
The Bulletwood-1 well is the first well to be drilled in the Canje Block and was spudded by the Stena Carron drillship which commenced drilling on December 31, 2020, in a water depth of 2846 m.
The Canje Block lies 180 km offshore Guyana in deep to ultra-deep waters with an area of approximately 4800 sq km. The operator of this block is ExxonMobil with a 35 per cent interest while Total also has a 35 per cent, JHI a 17.5 per cent, and Mid-Atlantic Oil & Gas Inc a 12.5 per cent interest.