Tullow Oil Eyes Next Hot Spot, Gears Up For Guyana Probe

When it comes to navigating the intricacies of the unknown, Tullow Oil is considered an expert, particularly in Africa where it has discovered over 4 billion barrels (Bbbl) of oil during its 30-plus-year history on the continent.

The London-headquartered independent E&P, which is behind the giant Jubilee and Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme oilfield developments offshore Ghana, has reset its exploration portfolio and is ready to test its potential.

During the last few years, the company has exited noncore areas—like many of its peers—and focused on what it describes as high-value assets in Africa and South America. Since August 2013, Tullow’s reshaped portfolio shrank to 10 countries, down from seven, while the number of licenses dropped by two-thirds to 29, company executives said. Acreage fell to about 206,000 sq km (79,537 sq miles) from more than 346,000 (133,591 sq miles).

Tullow’s executives appear excited about the low-cost acreage it has loaded into its portfolio. These include assets offshore Guyana, Suriname, Comoros and Peru among other areas.

“A little goes a long way if you’re smart with where you’re looking,” Ian Cloke, executive vice president of new ventures for Tullow, said recently during company’s 2018 Capital Markets Day.