Seismic reflections : Tullow’s breakthrough discovery

Tullow Oil’s announcement last week that it has discovered oil off the coast of French Guiana points to the opening up of a new play along the coast of South America, with further similar prospects in several basins across French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana. The Zaedyus exploration well encountered oil in a fan system similar to that found along the West African coast, especially in the company’s Jubilee field offshore Ghana. Demonstrating that its African success can be replicated across the Atlantic vindicates Tullow’s theory that offshore West Africa and South America share common geological origins, and the company now has much to play for, with the scale of the remaining prospects likely to match current upper estimates for Zaedyus.

Download PDF