12th Aug 2019 09:06
(Alliance News) - Shares in Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd nearly doubled in value on Monday, as it announced a "significant" oil discovery off the shore of Guyana.
Tullow Oil PLC, which owns 60% of Orinduik, also on Monday announced the discovery, made on the Jethro-1 well. Eco Atlantic owns 15% of the block, with France's Total SA the rest.
Eco Atlantic was trading at 129.65 pence a share on Monday, having closed on Friday at 68.98p. Shares in FTSE 250 Tullow were 16% higher at 206.85p.
The well found 55 metres of "high-quality" net oil pay, having been drilled to a depth of 4,400 metres in 1,350 metres of water.
Evaluation of logging data has confirmed Jethro-1 is the first oil discovery on the licence, comprising "high-quality" oil bearing sandstone reservoirs from the Lower Tertiary age, Eco Atlantic and Tullow said.
"We are thrilled to report this exceptionally exciting discovery. This is a revolutionary moment for Eco. It has been a long path of hard work for our team, and with today's announcement we feel our first rewards have justified our journey," said Chief Executive Gil Holzman, who also co-founded the firm.
"We have been very confident in the prospects of the Orinduik since we first decided to make a licence application in February 2014, based on a strong recommendation from our team at Kinley Exploration."
"This is a transformational event for the company, and we now need to strategically plan for an even brighter future. With multiple targets to consider, and Joe as the next prospect to be drilled, we will now pursue our evaluation of the timing for wells to develop the Jethro field and to expediently bring it on production. We are funded for at least six additional wells," he continued.
Tullow's Chief Executive Paul McDade added: "This substantial and high value oil discovery in Guyana is an outcome of the significant technical and commercial focus which has underpinned the reset of our exploration portfolio. It is an excellent start to our drilling campaign in the highly prolific Guyana oil province," said Chief Executive Officer Paul McDade.
"We look forward to drilling both the Joe and Carapa prospects in our 2019 drilling campaign and the material follow-up exploration potential in both the Orinduik and Kanuku licences," McDade added."