CGX Energy, Frontera Strike Oil at Wei-1 Well Offshore Guyana

Guyana-focused oil and gas companies CGX Energy and Frontera Energy Corporation said Wednesday they had discovered oil at the Wei-1 well, on the Corentyne block, approximately 200 kilometers offshore from Georgetown, Guyana. 

"The Joint Venture has successfully finished drilling operations without any safety incidents and expects to release the drilling rig in early July 2023," CGX said. The consortium is using Noble Corp's (formerly Maersk) Noble Corp Discoverer semi-submersible mobile drilling unit for the operation.

The Wei-1 well encountered 210 feet of hydrocarbon-bearing sands in the Santonian horizon. 

The Joint Venture acquired wireline logs and extensive core samples from the Santonian, however, due to a tool failure downhole and a new tool not being available, oil samples were not obtained, CGX said.

The rock and fluid properties of the Santonian will now be analyzed by an independent third-party laboratory over the next 2-3 months to define net pay and a basis for the evaluation of this interval, the company said.

The Joint Venture has updated its previously announced discovery in the Maastrichtian and the Campanian intervals to 77 feet of net pay.

Fluid samples were retrieved from the Campanian and Maastrichtian indicating the presence of light crude in the Campanian and sweet medium crude oil in the Maastrichtian.

The Joint Venture's data acquisition program included wireline logging, MDT fluid samples and sidewall cores throughout the various intervals. Over the next few months, results will be integrated into the geologic and geophysical models to form an updated view of the entire northern portion of the Corentyne block. 

The northern portion of the Corentyne block includes the channel complexes discovered by the Kawa-1 and Wei-1 wells, and a prospective central channel complex, which is yet to be evaluated. 

"The Joint Venture is excited by the definitive presence of oil in the Maastrichtian and Campanian and the presence of hydrocarbons in the Santonian and believes there is significant potential in the block," CGX said.