DRILLING of the Eagle-1 well and the Jaguar-1 well, two highly prospective offshore wells for Guyana, is finally imminent in the Guyana/Suriname Basin.
This is according to the Canadian-based oil and exploration company CGX Energy Inc., which announced that it has awarded a  drilling contract to a subsidiary of the company – Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. – for the Ocean Saratoga semi submersible drilling rig to drill the Eagle-1 well on the company’s 100% owned and operated Corentyne Prospecting Licence offshore Guyana.
The company disclosed that the Ocean Saratoga drill rig is currently in operation in the Gulf of Mexico, but will soon be available to drill the Eagle-1 well.
The company disclosed that it is in discussions with officials of the Guyana Government regarding timing for drilling of the Eagle-1 well, and that an announcement on mobilization and drill timing will be made in a separate release.
According to CGX Inc., Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. is a leading drilling contractor that owns and operates one of the largest fleets of offshore drilling units in the world, and has bases in Houston, USA; Perth, Australia; Macae, Brazil; and Aberdeen,  Scotland.
Diamond has over 40 years of global drilling experience, and approximately 5,000 skilled employees worldwide. Steve Hermeston, President and CEO of Diamond, disclosed the following:
The company will be drilling two highly prospective wells offshore Guyana, (which are) the Eagle-1 well and the Jaguar-1 well. The Eagle-1 well will appraise the Eocene and Maastrichtian geologic formations, formed between 145 and 65 million years ago,  to an anticipated total depth of 4,300 metres, and will take approximately 60 days to drill.
The Jaguar-1 well, in which CGX has a 25% interest with partners Repsol Exploracion S.A (operator), YPF Guyana Limited and Tullow Guyana B.V., will appraise the Turonian geologic  formation, formed between 93 and 89 million years ago, to an anticipated depth of 6,500 metres.
The Jaguar-1 well, located on the Georgetown PPL, will be drilled by the Atwood Beacon jackup rig as soon as it completes drilling for Inpex Corporation offshore Suriname.
In June 2000, Surinamese gunboats forced CGX to abandon exploration activities in the Guyana/Suriname Basin when they evicted the rig from what they claimed were Surinamese territory.
The Guyana Government took the matter to the United Nations Law of the Sea Tribunal, which ruled in September 2007 that the point at which CGX was exploring was well within Guyana’s boundaries, thereby paving the way for the return of CGX after an absence of five years.
In its statement yesterday, CGX said that the Jaguar-1 well drilling will mark the fruition of years of evaluation, preparation and cooperation between CGX and the Guyana Government, and the onset of evaluating the petroleum potential of the highly prospective offshore Guyana/Suriname Basin.