Tullow Oil is set to spin the bit on the first of two of its planned wildcats off Guyana on 26 June.

The Anglo-Irish independent has mobilised the drillship Stena Forth, which is set to arrive at the Orinduik block on or around 24 June, junior block partner Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas said.

Drilling on the Jethro-Lobe tertiary prospect will start around 26 June, Eco said.

That well will be followed directly by the exploration well on the Joe prospect in the same block.

The block partners chartered the Stena Drilling-owned rig in February at around $170,000 a day.

In May, the prospective resource estimate for the Orinduik block was boosted by around 37% in a new third-party assessment to nearly 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

The best-case estimate for gross prospective resources was upgraded to 3.982 billion boe on a proven-and-probable (P50) basis, compared with a previous figure of 2.913 billion boe, in the latest competent person’s report prepared by Gustavson Associates.

The assessment also firmed up a pre-drill P50 resource estimate of 214.5 million boe for the Jethro-Lobe prospect - down from an initial target of 250 million boe.

Tullow holds a 60% operating stake in the block, together with partners French supermajor Total (25%) and Eco (15%).

Online

Stena rig heads for Tullow wildcat off Guyana