Tullow, Eco Spud Joe-1 Well in Guyana

Operator Tullow started drilling a fresh exploration well in Guyana's offshore Orinduik block, partner Eco Atlantic announced on Tuesday.

Joe-1 was spud August 25 using the Stena Forth drillship, which previously drilled the recently announced Jethro discovery.

Eco and its partners on the Orinduik Block, Tullow (operator, 60% working interest) and Total (25% working interest), estimate the well will  take approximately three weeks to drill.

The Joe prospect is a Tertiary feature on the northern part of the Orinduik Block in approximately 700 meters of water and is estimated by Gustavson Associates to hold 148.3mmboe of gross unrisked prospective oil resources (P50).

Joe is the second of Eco's two-well drill program in Guyana for this year and the company is fully funded for a further six potential exploration, appraisal or development wells on the Orinduik Block, the company said.

Colin Kinley, ECO Chief Operating Officer and co-founder, said, "After the discovery made on Jethro in the Lower Tertiary, which greatly derisked that age section throughout the block, we are now moving to an Upper Tertiary target in the Joe prospect where we are targeting over 100mmboe. If a further discovery is made, it will further enhance the value of the block with this shallower play. The estimated chance of success for Joe is the same as Jethro, although it is a completely different play, and we are confident in our 3D interpretation as we were ahead of the Jethro-1 discovery.

"We look forward to continued success in our exploration efforts as we move forward to define the plays available to us in all the various geological ages and to develop this block."

Eco and Tullow shares soared earlier this month when Tullow announced Jethro drilling results indicating the prospect holds more than 100 million recoverable barrels of oil, in excess of expectations.

Last month, Qatar Petroleum said it had agreed a deal with Total to buy 40% of Total's 25% stake in the Orinduik block, and 40 percent of Total's 25% participating interest in the neighboring Kanuku.