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Posts Tagged ‘Walton Morant License’

Jamaica: Can United Oil & Gas make it to the starting line (exploration well)?

Posted in Jamaica, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on July 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »

United’s massive Walton-Morant license is the size of 896 Gulf of America lease blocks! That’s half the total number of active Gulf leases!

United O&G 2025 Financial Summary:

  • Loss after tax: ($1.25m) (2024: $2.44m loss)
  • Group cash balances at 31 December 2025: $1.7m (2024: $0.8m)

“The company currently has no revenue and is operating at an annual loss and shows a current net liability as at 31 December 2025. Its only funding options are through warrant exercises, a Jamaican farmout deal covering back and future work program costs, or equity financing.”

The company’s future is dependent on finding a partner to fund an exploratory well. In that regard, United’s optimism has yet to result in a farmout deal after years of trying. The discovery risks seem comparable to those of other prospective frontier wildcats. So why have they been unable to find a partner? Are their terms unreasonable?

This outsider continues to wonder why United has been granted multiple license extensions, the latest through 1/31/2008. Does the govt have that much confidence in a company that is dependent on finding a partner to fund an exploration well? Should the Govt of Jamaica have allowed the license to expire and negotiated directly with larger companies? Was the govt concerned about administrative or political constraints associated with re-offering the massive license area?

I have been following this story for 5 years, and am still hopeful for a positive outcome for Jamaica.

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Jamaica update – optimism tempered by frontier exploration realities. Who will step forward to fund a drilling program?

Posted in Jamaica, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 30, 2026| Leave a Comment »

United’s 22,400 sq km offshore Walton-Morant exploration license offshore Jamaica. Typical US offshore leases are only 23.3 sq km. The Jamaican license is thus nearly 1000 times larger than a US offshore lease!

United Oil & Gas commented on the results from their recent piston coring program. Excerpts follow:

“United has undertaken a geochemical analysis on the 42 piston cores acquired across the Walton-Morant Licence. The analysis has identified C4 and C5 hydrocarbons, including butanes and pentanes, in select piston cores within the headspace gas dataset. United note that these higher order hydrocarbons are not typically associated with biogenic gas systems and are therefore consistent with a potential thermogenic contribution. (This is true.)

There is an established body of evidence for an active petroleum system in Jamaica in general, and on the licence in particular, including repeat satellite slick anomalies, thermogenic hydrocarbon geochemistry from existing onshore and offshore wells, onshore and offshore oil seeps, and onshore surface outcrops. Furthermore, petroleum systems modelling suggests the presence of oil-mature source rocks. The 2026 SGE survey is the first on the licence to be optimally positioned using 3D seismic, multibeam echosounder (MBES) seabed mapping, and satellite-derived slick anomaly data. Taken together, the data are interpreted as consistent with an active petroleum system offshore Jamaica.“

United estimates that the piston coring results boost the Geological Chance of Success (i.e. the source rock, reservoir, trap, and seal—are present and working) for the flagship Colibri prospect from 19% to 32%, which is quite good for frontier exploration.

diagram from Alan Foum on linkedin

Will these new data help entice majors to fund exploratory drilling? In the video below (ignore the click-bait title cover 😉), Energy Minister Daryl Vaz does a good job of adding perspective.

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Jamaica exploration update – piston coring begins

Posted in drilling, Jamaica, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on January 27, 2026| Leave a Comment »

TDI Brooks International vessel to conduct piston coring and surface geochemical survey

A research vessel departed Trinidad last weekend bound for Jamaica to conduct seabed surveys, starting this week, aimed at confirming whether oil-like substances detected beneath the island’s waters are commercially viable crude.

“This survey represents a key milestone in advancing our Jamaica exploration programme,” said Brian Larkin, CEO of United Oil & Gas.

piston coring

The piston coring survey will involve the collection of 40–60 seabed core samples across the Walton and Morant Basins, accompanied by bathymetric, multibeam echo-sounding, and heat-flow surveys.

The data will be analyzed for geochemical and thermal signatures to confirm the presence of thermogenic hydrocarbons, assess source rock maturity, and refine basin modeling, materially enhancing the definition of key prospects, including Colibri and Oriole.

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Jamaica exploration update

Posted in Jamaica, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on August 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Attached is a good update on the Walton Morant license offshore Jamaica. Note that the large Exxon deepwater block offshore Trinidad (7765 sq km) is only 1/3 the size of the massive Walton Morant license (22,400 sq km), and that the Walton Morant license is nearly 1000 times the size of a deepwater Gulf of America lease block.

Walton-Morant-Prospectivity-Intro-June-2025-FINALDownload

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Jamaica exploration: UOG is ramping up the promotion; will they secure the necessary partner(s)?

Posted in energy policy, Jamaica, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , on June 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

While Jamaica’s Walton Morant Block has impressive potential, that doesn’t equate to oil and gas reserves, and speculation about the “next Guyana” is highly premature.

The block’s licensee, United Oil & Gas (UOG), lacks the financial resources to fulfill its drilling commitment, and is thus dependent on finding industry partners. The Government of Jamaica has generously granted multiple license extensions to UOG, the latest through 1/31/2028.

Will UOG succeed in their quest for partners? Is the confidence expressed below justified? Stay tuned.

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Jamaica update: another extension for United Oil and Gas

Posted in Jamaica, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , on April 25, 2025| 1 Comment »

Walton-Morant license

United Oil & Gas Plc (AIM: “UOG”), the oil and gas company with a high-impact exploration asset in Jamaica and a development asset in the UK, is pleased to announce that it has secured an early two-year extension to the Walton Morant licence offshore Jamaica, now valid until 31 January 2028, where it holds a 100% working interest.

The Company would like to formally acknowledge and thank the government and people of Jamaica for the continued support of oil and gas exploration in Jamaica. The extension provides UOG with the security required to advance discussions with farm-in partners and progress technical work, reinforcing the significant exploration potential of this licence.

With the extended tenure confirmed, United have re-engaged with selected parties who had previously expressed interest before the farm-out process was suspended in December 2024, as well as new interest from additional groups. At present, multiple companies are under Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) and actively reviewing data as part of the farm-out process.

Comments:

  • The Jamaican govt not only granted a second 2 year license extension, but they did so 10 months before the deadline. Could the upcoming elections, scheduled for later this year, have been a factor in the timing of their decision?
  • Does the govt have that much confidence in a company that is dependent on finding a partner to fund an exploration well?
  • If the license had been allowed to expire, was the govt concerned about administrative or political constraints associated with re-offering the license area?
  • United Oil and Gas excels at promotion and isn’t shy about making bold statements about their Walton-Morant license. They have been talking for several years about strong interest from prospective partners, but no deal has been made.
  • United’s estimate of 7 billion barrels for the license area represents the sum of the prospective unrisked resources for each prospect. The resource estimate is dependent on oil being discovered and developed at each prospect, and is thus speculative.

Previous posts on this matter.

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Checking in on Jamaica

Posted in Jamaica, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , on June 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Good interview with United’s Country Manager for Jamaica, Herona Thompson:

Previous Jamaica posts

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Exciting investment opportunity?

Posted in energy policy, Jamaica, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , on April 29, 2024| Leave a Comment »

As reported in January, United Oil and Gas received a 2 year extension from the Government of Jamaica on their Walker Morant License. Below is a United video produced for prospective partners.

While the investment risk is undeniable, the reward potential is high.

Below is an interesting slide from the United presentation that compares the government’s take of production revenues for various African and S. American nations.

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Important Jamaica update: United Oil and Gas gets the extension

Posted in Jamaica, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , on January 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Walton-Morant license

“We are very pleased to announce the agreement of terms for a two-year license extension in Jamaica. United has dedicated significant effort to the technical aspects of this asset, which has over 2.4 billion barrels of unrisked oil potential and the promising Colibri prospect. This extension will empower us to confidently continue our farm-out campaign, seeking a strategic partner to unlock the immense potential in this region. The support from the Government of Jamaica underscores our relationship and the optimistic industry outlook in Jamaica. We will continue to focus on the recent positive interest that has been shown by a number of parties, and with the extended licence, this is a significant opportunity for the benefit of all stakeholders.”

United Chief Executive Officer, Brian Larkin, 1/22/2024

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Back to the drawing board for United Oil and Gas?

Posted in Jamaica, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , on November 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Walton Morant License

Further to the announcement of 9th November, the Company has been informed by the counterparty that had been identified as a preferred potential partner, that they no longer wish to pursue further discussions in relation to participation in the Walton Morant Licence. The Company will now focus on the recent positive interest that has been shown by other parties in potentially participating in this high impact exploration opportunity and United and our advisors will continue in our efforts to secure a partner. The Board believes that the renewed interest in exploration opportunities worldwide which is being driven by the strong future demand for oil and gas, will support our farmout efforts.

The Company continues to engage with the Jamaican authorities to secure an extension to the current licence period which expires at the end of January 2024, with a negotiated work programme that comprises additional technical work that would further de-risk the licence prior to the drilling of the exploration well. This work is aimed at materially enhancing the risked value of the Company’s interest in the Licence. Additional updates on both the farmout process and licence extension will be provided in due course

United Oil and Gas

Comments:

  • I’m very curious about the companies that United has been talking to, but that information is understandably being withheld. I would hope that the Jamaican government is being kept informed, since they will presumably have to approve the farmout.
  • Conducting “additional technical work” is a common lease/license extension tactic. It will be interesting to see how the Jamaican government responds, particularly if a firm date for an exploratory well has not been provided.

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