Offshore staff
NASSAU, The Bahamas – Uruguay’s national regulatory agency ANCAP has awarded Bahamas Petroleum Co. (BPC) an exploration license for the AREA OFF-1 block.
This follows a period under which BPC had to demonstrate its technical and operational credentials in order to qualify as an approved offshore operator.
During the initial four-year exploration period for OFF-1, the company will reprocess around 2,000 km (1,242 mi) of legacy 2D seismic and perform new geotechnical studies, at an estimated cost of around $200,000/yr.
There is no drilling commitment for the initial period.
AREA OFF-1 covers around 15,000 sq km (5,792 sq mi), 100 km (62 mi) from the Uruguayan coast, in water depths of 20-1,000 m (65.6-3,281 ft).
Prior activity on and adjacent to the block included 12,000 line-km (7,456 mi) of 2D seismic acquired from the early 1970s to 2015, while Chevron drilled two wells in the area in 1976.
Current mapping suggests potential for various exploration plays and leads in relatively shallow water, BPC said, with resources of up to 1 Bboe.
Technically, it added, there are similarities to the prolific Guyana-Suriname basin and Cretaceous turbidite plays successfully explored off northeastern South America.
Last year Shell, BP, Total and Equinor were awarded various licenses in adjacent waters to the south offshore Argentina, where the primary targets are also likely to be Cretaceous plays, while in December, Kosmos Energy was awarded the two adjacent Uruguayan offshore blocks to OFF-1.
06/09/2020
