Oil explorer CGX has put its Corentyne joint venture process on hold for at least a few months, according to BNamericas which cited a webcast by the company’s President Kerry Sully.
The announcement is another frustrating turn for Guyana which was anticipating that a potentially lucrative spot in the Corentyne area which had been the source of contention between this country and Suriname would be drilled shortly by the Canadian company.
Oil and gas website Energy Current yesterday quoted Sully as saying “We’re now in discussions with Jefferies [Randall & Dewey] as to when the right time to reopen the data room is,” adding, the process could resume in June or as late as mid-July. “
He added that Jefferies had recommended that the process be put on hold due to the volatile crude oil price situation and until CGX has acquired depth images, according to the executive.
The company plans to farm out the cost of drilling in the area.
In December, a 505 square-kilometer (195 square-mile) 3D survey was completed on the Corentyne with processing and interpretation planned for this year.
“We’re well advanced in well design, we’re well advanced in environmental approval for this drilling operation, and we’re working our way towards a drill decision,” Sully added.
Last month, CGX said it was processing the 3-D seismic data acquired during its surveys, though it would be months before any decisions on drilling could be made. Sully had said then that a large amount of data has to be processed.
By July, depth imaging was to be done. The interpretation of the data would then follow and this is a process that would take months. Identification of possible targets for drilling should be done later this year.
Sully, who spoke with Stabroek News by telephone last month, said processing of data had started since last November and the company is at a transition moment in interpretation. He said that it is a large amount of data that has to be processed and as an example, pointed out that computers much more powerful that the personal computers are being utilized with 6,300 central processing units being used simultaneously for 24 hours a day for three weeks.
Following the interpretation and analyzing of the data, locations for drilling will be identified. Asked about the effect of the global financial crisis on the company, he said that the company is well-financed and pointed out too that “services such as drill rigs should be a little more available so there are both positives and negatives”.
CGX had been evicted from the drill site in June 2000 by Suriname gunboats and since then, Georgetown has been hoping that the Canadian company would be able to sink a lucrative well in the area. That is now likely to take a little longer.
