Frontera Energy and GCX Energy Report New Discovery at Offshore Guyana Well

Canadian oil and gas company Frontera Energy Corporation (TSX: FEC), in a joint venture with CGX Energy Inc. (TSXV: OYL), reported a significant discovery in their offshore Guyana drilling site, announcing 114 feet of net pay at the Wei-1 well within the Corentyne block.

Photo: Frontera Energy’s oil operations in Quifa, Colombia. (Credit: Frontera Energy)

This brings the total net pay discovered in this block to 342 feet, results that “further demonstrate the potential for a standalone shallow oil resource development across the Corentyne block,” according to Frontera Energy.

The Corentyne block is located around 125 miles offshore from from the capital of Georgetown and is a major source of optimism for what Frontera board chair Gabriel de Alba called the company’s “potentially transformational investments in Guyana.”

“With the joint venture’s two-well drilling program now complete, and as a result of inbound expressions of interest from various global third parties, the joint venture is working with Houlihan Lokey to support a review of strategic options for the Corentyne block, including a potential farm down,” added De Alba.

The news came on the same day that Frontera announced third quarter results of $32.6 million in net income. This figure is down from $80.2 million last quarter but a major turnaround from the net loss of $26.9 million in the third quarter of 2022.

In terms of production, the Calgary-based company averaged 40,802 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in the third quarter, a slight drop from the 42,049 boe/d reported in the second quarter of 2023 and the 41,033 boe/d averaged in the third quarter last year.

“The decrease in production quarter-over-quarter was mainly the result of lower light and medium crude oil production in Colombia, driven in part by the relinquishment of the Neiva and Orito blocks (which produced approximately 587 boe/d net to Frontera) to Ecopetrol following the completion of the block’s production contract at the end of the second quarter of 2023,” said Frontera in its earnings statement.

“The decrease,” it continued, “was partially offset by higher heavy oil crude production driven by another record quarterly CPE-6 production of 5,803 bbl/d due to positive development drilling and the reactivation of the Sabanero block on July 1, 2022, and the successful Jandaya-1 well stimulation in Ecuador.”