Pontoenoe-1- latest well to disappoint offshore Suriname
Kosmos Energy is plugging and abandoning its Pontoenoe-1 exploration well in Block 42 offshore Suriname, after encountering water in the Upper Cretaceous primary target. It is the company’s second well to be drilled in the region this year, with the Anapai-1 well also failing to find hydrocarbons in the Lower Cretaceous. Both wells did however encounter high quality reservoir and Kosmos believes it has found evidence of a working source kitchen in Pontoenoe-1. Both appear to have failed due to a lack of trap, a key risk in stratigraphic prospects. The company expects to return to drill in Suriname in 2020, where it holds a portfolio of multiple independent prospects. The Kosmos wells were highlighted by us as wells to watch in our ‘Exploration Watch: 2018 exploration wells’ report.
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Drilling success remains elusive in Suriname
Kosmos Energy’s Anapai-1 is being plugged and abandoned after failing to find hydrocarbons in the latest well to be drilled offshore Suriname. The well is the latest in a number of recent attempts to prove an extension of the Cretaceous fan play that has been so successful for ExxonMobil in neighbouring Guyana (The company has just announced its eighth discovery, Longtail, in its prolific Stabroek block).
Read more...Wells to watch in 2017
Since the oil price crash of 2014, exploration has been particularly badly hit as companies looked to trim expenditure. Wood Mackenzie estimates that 2017 exploration will account for 8% of upstream expenditure, down from historic norms of 14%. In this more difficult environment, any surviving exploration has tended to be led by majors, for example ExxonMobil’s giant Liza discovery offshore Guyana in 2015. In our most recent Exploration Watch, we highlight wells due to spud in 2017 that involve independent companies, with resources estimates greater than 100mmboe. Our exception is the much anticipated multi-billion barrel potential Korpfjell prospect in the Barents Sea offshore Norway, which is operated by Statoil and partnered by major companies.
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