|
Big play hunt off Aruba
Bill Armstrong's international firm signs deal with CAP to explore offshore Aruba
Kay Cashman Petroleum News
On May 31, Compania Arubano di Petroleo (CAP), Aruba's national oil company, announced the signing of a Product Sharing Contract with Andicuri Oil & Gas Exploration VBA (AOGX), a subsidiary of Armstrong International LLC, for the exploration, development and production of hydrocarbons offshore Aruba.
The signing ceremony took place in the presence of Evelyn Wever-Croes, Prime Minister of Aruba. The contract area covers a surface of 14,356 square kilometers, equivalent to approx. 3.5 million acres.
The Armstrong companies, among which are Armstrong Oil & Gas Inc. and Lagniappe Alaska LLC, have an outstanding exploration track record over the last 40 years, finding multiple giant fields in Alaska including the 2.5+ billion-barrel Pikka field discovered in 2013 and announcing last month a new and potentially large discovery at King Street #1 exploration well.
Armstrong International was created to explore global opportunities to apply the company's industry expertise to chase large oil and gas fields.
In addition to the successful exploration campaign in Alaska's harsh weather conditions, the geographical location has also required Lagniappe to successfully perform under rigorous environmental regulations, maintaining for more than 20 years excellent relationships with local stakeholders such as borough, state, and federal agencies. This was one of the key elements considered by CAP during the contract negotiations.
The AOGX team is loaded with experienced executives with outstanding track records in exploration, including numerous discoveries in Aruba's neighboring countries, CAP said.
"One of the most talented/successful executives of a major oil company that I ever worked with was Federico Arisi Rota. Now we are teamed up together," Armstrong said. "We met in 2003 when I was pitching ENI an Alaskan deal which became Nikaitchuq field. Kerr McGee beat ENI to the deal. Federico and I stayed friends ever since. Today he is chief operating officer at Armstrong International, in charge of international ventures."
To date, there have been four exploratory wells within Aruba's maritime boundaries, three drilled in 1989-90 to the Southwest of Aruba. The fourth one, Bon Bini 1-X, was drilled in 2018 to the northwest of Aruba.
"A new chapter in Aruba's exploration for hydrocarbons has officially started. Our world and way of life keep on evolving, along with our energy needs. CAP's aim from day one has always been for Aruba to achieve energy independence and moreover, to achieve this in a social and environmentally responsible manner," Glenbert Croes, Minister of Labor, Energy and Integration said. "A successful exploration campaign will contribute to this goal and as a result benefit Aruba's current generation, as well as the future generations to come."
Bill Armstrong, president and CEO of Armstrong Oil and Gas, added: "We are really encouraged about the potential of Aruba and we are optimistic that we will create significant value for this beautiful island and its people. We have been actively looking worldwide to leverage our exploration successes in the search for new oil and gas opportunities."
Armstrong said their "preliminary geological and geophysical work indicates that there are multiple large play opportunities in Aruban waters with look-alike fields in the nearby countries of Venezuela, Trinidad-Tobago, Colombia and Guyana. Aruba is essentially unexplored. This is a very exciting time for Aruba."
Lesser Antilles Aruba is one of the Lesser Antilles islands located in the Southern Caribbean Sea. The island is approximately 15 miles off the coast of Venezuela. On a clear day it is possible to see Venezuela from the southeastern side of the island.
The Lesser Antilles islands extend in an arc from Puerto Rico to the northeastern coast of South America. Some of the islands that are part of the Lesser Antilles are the Virgin Islands, Saint Martin, Guadeloupe, Grenada, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Curacao and Bonaire.
Cruise ships visit Aruba weekly and more than 150 flights from different cities land there, including cities in the United States, Canada, South America, the Netherlands and England.
Aruba is an independent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and has a population of approximately 104,000. The official languages are Dutch and Papiamento, but English and Spanish are also widely spoken.
The Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, or Kingdom of the Netherlands, is made up of four countries: Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands.
Aruba is 21 miles (33 km) long, 6 miles (9 km) wide and has an area of about 75 square miles (193 square km). The island is largely flat with few hills and is known for its white sandy beaches.
Aruba is south of the hurricane belt which means that it rarely rains for extended periods of time. The climate is mostly dry with little vegetation.
Continuous trade winds cool Aruba and the temperature is about 82 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius) year-round.
| 