Eco Atlantic completes Orinduik farm-out to Total

Oil and gas exploration company Eco Atlantic announced the completion of its farm-out agreement with Total Petroleum's subsidiary Total E&P Activités Pétrolières on Wednesday, on its Orinduik block, offshore Guyana.

The AIM-traded firm said all required government authorisations had been obtained, with the relevant partners' approvals executed and the necessary government transfer fees paid.

As a result, Total transferred the balance of $12.5m for its 25% working interest to Eco on Tuesday.

With completion of the transaction, the working interests on Orinduik included operator Tullow at 60%, Total with a 25% working interest, and Eco Atlantic at 15%.

“We are pleased to confirm that the farm-out to Total is now complete and this allows us to progress efficiently to the next stage of exploration,” said chief operating officer Colin Kinley.

“The company has advanced quickly through the stages of 2D interpretation and 3D surveying, processing and interpretation.”

Now, with Total on board and being fully funded to drill, Kinley said the company was “looking forward” to moving ahead, finalising drilling targets and approving the 2019 drilling budget for Orinduik.

“We have remained well ahead of our committed schedule, being partnered with ambitious and highly experienced partners, and we look forward to advancing through drilling - years in advance of our committed timing under the terms of the Orinduik licence.”

Gil Holzman, Eco Atlantic’s chief executive officer, added that the completion of the farm-out to Total was not just the culmination of years of work from the Eco team, who identified Orinduik as a high-grade opportunity before ExxonMobil's Liza discovery on the adjacent Stabroek block.

“It is also the beginning of an exciting period where we can now work officially alongside two world-class partners, Tullow and Total, to determine drilling targets for at least one well and potentially more on Orinduik in mid 2019.

“Having now received the $12.5m from Total for their 25% working interest, our cash position has been further strengthened and we are fully funded for next year's drilling programme.

“We look forward to updating the market soon on progress on Orinduik and information regarding the proposed drilling programme.”