United Oil & Gas plc expects to begin the surface geochemical exploration survey before the end of January on its Walton Morant licence, offshore Jamaica.
DE-RISK
The company estimates that the block holds a potential of more than 7.1 billion barrels of unrisked prospective resources.
The R/V Gyre survey vessel left Trinidad on 17 January and is due to arrive in Kingston in approximately five to six days.
Operator TDI Brooks International is expected to start offshore operations on or around 27 January.
Work will begin with the multibeam echo sounder (MBES) survey, followed by heat flow measurements and seabed piston coring operations.
United said that core samples would be shipped to TDI Brooks’ laboratory in the United States for analysis, with preliminary results due after one to two months.
The final analysis is expected around mid-2026.
A review of the MBES survey will inform the locations for piston coring, which involves extraction of sediment samples from the seabed to determine the presence of an active petroleum system.
“The offshore survey programme is designed to confirm the presence of thermogenic hydrocarbons and further de-risk the basin, providing key data to support future exploration activity on the Walton Morant licence,” added the company.