By MYRNA M. VELASCO PXP Energy Corporation and its partners led by Australian-firm operator partner Karoon Energy Ltd. are set to drill at their petroleum exploration and discovery prospect in Peru. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), PXP Energy indicated that the Stena Forth drillship already arrived at the port of Callao in Lima, Peru “ahead of drilling the Marina-1 exploration well.” The prospect, which is targeted for oil find estimated at 256 million barrels, is located in Block Z-38 along Tumbes basin in Peru. Karoon Energy is the project operator with 40 percent net interest; while Pitkin Petroleum which is a subsidiary of PXP Energy has 25 percent shareholdings in the block. Another partner in the venture is Tulllow Oil with 35 percent equity interest. “The Stena Forth will remain at the port of Callao for one to two weeks to refuel and charge the crew before continuing on to Marina-1 well location,” Karoon Energy has indicated in a media statement. “Karoon expects the vessel to clear customs and final permits to be received over the coming weeks,” the Australian firm said. As emphasized based on the drilling schedule, “the well is expected to spud during the last week of January 2020.” The Marina prospect is seen comprising “a large fault bounded structure with targets at multiple levels from 900m subsea to 2900m” and that “the targets are in the tertiary Pliocene La Cruz to Cardalitos formations.” It was further noted that “the structures are well defined by 3D seismic,” and that its nearby hydrocarbon seeps demonstrate that migrating hydrocarbons are present. Such, it was emphasized, is also supported by seismic AVO or amplitude versus offset anomalies that could be indicative of “trapped oil” at the Marina well.