Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Plc (LON:ECO, CVE:EOG) chief executive Gil Holzman has told investors that this is still an exciting time for the explorer, as it looks ahead to the next round of drilling offshore Guyana.
It was revealed last week that the oil discovered in this year’s Jethro and Joe wells were found to be heavier and lower quality than anticipated, triggering a sharp sell-off in Eco’s shares.
Nevertheless, Eco remains funded for several further wells in the Orinduik block and partner Tullow is already preparing for the next phase of work.
READ: Eco remains “very confident” about Guyana potential
Eco today highlighted that an update on the forward drill plans will come in January.
It noted that multiple prospects are currently being reviewed and that “high graded candidates” are being considered a drill programme in 2020.
“We recognise the market reaction to our last announcement on the oil quality discovered at Jethro and Joe and we are grateful for the continued support of our shareholders,” Holzman said in the explorer’s interim results statement.
“This continues to be an exciting time for the company, as the Orinduik block offers many promising prospects and we continue to work with our partners and third party experts to evaluate our first two discoveries and determine the 2020 drilling targets and budget.”
In its interim results, Eco confirmed a strong cash position with C$30.7mln at the end of September, with C$27.9mln currently remaining.
Holzman highlighted: "We ended the first half of our financial year with a very strong balance sheet.
“These funds will be used to continue the evaluation of our two Guyana oil discoveries and to drill additional exploration and potentially appraisal wells on the block in 2020.”
The pre-revenue explorer reported a loss of C$15.5mln for the six month period.