Total SA reported on plans to begin its exploration campaign on the Guyane Maritime license, 150 km off French Guyana. Total’s objective on the license is to drill one last exploration well, following the five formerly drilled during 2011-13 to conclude definitively whether an exploitation phase is relevant.
Addressing environmental concerns about operating in the area, Total said the closest reef is 30 km from the drilling area in 100 m of water and is not coral. The company plans to drill in 2,000 m of water.
“According to the scientists who carried out a 50-day oceanographic survey on-site in 2017, including those from the Paris National Museum of Natural History, it is a discontinuous rocky plateau, on the edge of the continental shelf, presenting scattered biological communities where hundreds of samples have been taken for study,” the company said.
Total said it will report on the progress of its drilling throughout the process, as part of the Committee for Monitoring and Consultation. This commission, led by the authorities, includes 50 economic and social actors.
Total invites national government organizations, who wish to do so, to visit its installations to understand the precautionary measures taken on its drilling rig and to create an opportunity for reasoned dialogue, the company said.
Total said there are 200 people on board its drilling ship and the five support vessels around it. As such, a safety perimeter forbids navigation of all unauthorized watercraft within 500 m of the well.
The Guyane Maritime license is an existing exploration license that was awarded in 2001. Its extension was requested in March 2016 and granted on Sept. 14, 2017. The license covers 24,000 sq km beyond the Guyanese continental shelf.
