Tullow Oil plc has announced the results of its Jethro-1 exploration well, drilled on the Orinduik licence offshore Guyana by its wholly owned subsidiary Tullow Guyana B.V.

According to Tullow evaluation of logging data confirms that Jethro-1 is the first discovery on the Orinduik licence and comprises high quality oil bearing sandstone reservoirs of Lower Tertiary age. The well encountered 55m of net oil pay which supports a recoverable oil resource estimate which exceeds Tullow’s pre-drill forecast. Tullow will now evaluate the data from the Jethro discovery and determine appropriate appraisal activity.

Jethro-1 is expected to hold more than 100 million recoverable barrels of oil, in excess of Tullow’s expectations.

The Jethro-1 was drilled by the Stena Forth drillship to a Total Depth of 4,400m metres in approximately 1,350 metres of water.

Tullow Guyana B.V. is the operator of the Orinduik block with a 60% stake. Total E&P Guyana B.V.  holds 25% with the remaining 15% being held by Eco(Atlantic) Guyana Inc.

Paul McDade, CEO of Tullow said “This substantial and high value oil discovery in Guyana is an outcome of the significant technical and commercial focus which has underpinned the reset of our exploration portfolio. It is an excellent start to our drilling campaign in the highly prolific Guyana oil province. We look forward to drilling both the Joe and Carapa prospects in our 2019 drilling campaign and the material follow-up exploration potential in both the Orinduik and Kanuku licences.”

 The company also confirmed that two more wells would be drilled in 2019. The Joe prospect will be drilled later this month in the Orinduik block and CARAPA will be drilled in September, located in the the Kanuku block.