Tullow Oil has set its sights on drilling between three and five “high-impact frontier” wildcats per year, with wells in Guyana and Suriname on the menu in 2019, writes Eoin O'Cinneide.

The Anglo-Irish independent has set aside up to $150 million per annum for the next few years for exploration and drilling work, with Mauritania also an option for next year.

“We have completely transformed the balance sheet of Tullow. We are generating both significant and very sustainable free cash flows as we look out of the next coming years, and the company is now really focused on generating growth from the portfolio,” chief executive Paul McDade told Upstream as the company unveiled a first-half profit of $54.5 million against a $348.1 million loss one year when it incurred impairments of $642 million.

Tullow will concentrate its exploration activities in five main campaigns, with Namibia, Peru and Ivory Coast joining Guyana-Suriname and Mauritania.

Exploration director Angus McCoss said the main activity next year would be in Guyana and Suriname, where its operated Orinduik wildcat is just one prospect.

Tullow is also a partner in Block C-18 off Mauritania, where operator Total may elect to drill a well in 2019, McCoss said, while Tullow will next year carry out seismic on its operated acreage off Ivory Coast with drilling expected in 2020.

The most immediate exploration target is the Cormorant-1 well in PEL 37 off Namibia, which is set to be spudded by the drillship Ocean Rig Poseidon.

In Peru, Tullow is still trying to get blocks awarded by the previous government re-assigned by the current administration.

“We are pretty hopeful that this is a reprocessing of work already done, that was done the proper way, but the new government would prefer that the process was done through their own team and will reissue the licence,” McCoss said.

Tullow is also looking to add to its acreage position in Ghana, where a licensing round may materialise in the second half of this year. Other blocks are also up for direct negotiation, he added.

Tullow posted first half 2018 revenues of $905.1 million, up from $787.5 million a year earlier as oil prices rose.

However, working interest production was down to 79,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 82,400 boepd.

Expected full-year capital expenditure remains unchanged at $460 million.