United Oil & Gas, an AIM-listed upstream explorer, has hired NRG Well Management to study rig availability and long-lead equipment for a possible drilling program on its Walton-Morant license offshore Jamaica, targeting the Colibri and Thunderball prospects.
NRG will approach rig contractors and supply chain vendors directly to find out which rigs are available, what they would cost to hire, and how quickly they could mobilize for offshore drilling. The study covers two targets at different depths: Colibri, in roughly 750 meters of water, holds 406 million barrels of mean prospective resources, and Thunderball, in roughly 1,900 meters of water, holds 603 million barrels. Together the two prospects account for more than 1 billion barrels of the 7 billion barrels of prospective resources United has identified on the Walton-Morant license.
The study will also map out supply routes and port readiness across the region, screening logistics support in the Gulf of Mexico, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad alongside Jamaica's ports, and pricing out major equipment and well services with long order times.
United said the study is a planning and market-assessment exercise and does not commit the company to drilling a well. Any future drilling program would need regulatory approval from the Government of Jamaica and signed commercial agreements. The company expects the study to wrap up in the coming weeks.
Chief operating officer Donal Meehan said the study "will provide a current, market-based assessment of rig suitability, availability, commercial conditions" for drilling Colibri and Thunderball. He added that the work supports United's efforts "to conclude the Jamaican farm-out process."
