United Oil & Gas Plc has announced that a specialised vessel is preparing to mobilise for a crucial offshore survey over its wholly-owned Walton-Morant licence, offshore Jamaica. The work represents the next tactical step in evaluating a frontier exploration asset that the company estimates to hold over seven billion barrels of prospective resources.

The survey vessel R/V Gyre, operated by marine geoscience firm TDI-Brooks International, is finalising preparations in Trinidad. The company advised that mobilisation for United’s programme is scheduled to commence within the next week.

The planned geochemical survey is a direct de-risking activity for the large-scale opportunity to develop potential hyrdocarbon resources offshore Jamaica. According to the company, the 22,400-square-kilometre Walton-Morant licence contains 21 individual prospects and leads, each with over 100 million barrels of potential. The largest single prospect is estimated to hold more than 1.1 billion barrels.

The forthcoming operation will use piston coring to extract seabed samples and analyse them for thermogenic hydrocarbons. The objective is to find tangible evidence that the petroleum system suggested by existing 3D seismic data is actively generating and leaking oil or gas.

Brian Larkin, CEO of United Oil & Gas, commented: “We are pleased that the R/V Gyre has completed its prior survey programme and is now preparing to mobilise for United. We continue to work closely with TDI-Brooks and the relevant authorities as we move toward mobilisation.”

A further update will be provided once the vessel departs Trinidad for the survey location. Successful results from this survey would provide a significant technical justification for progressing to an exploration drilling campaign, which remains the definitive test for the licence’s potential.