The Caribbean and Americas focused energy company Challenger Energy Group (CEG) has formally signed its AREA OFF-3 licence, offshore Uruguay. The AREA OFF-3 licence covers an area of 13,252 km2 located at approximately 100 km off the Uruguayan coast, having a substantial existing 2D and 3D seismic coverage, with two previously identified material prospects (the Amalia and the Morpheus prospects) possessing currently estimated gross resource potential of up to 2 Gbl of oil and up to 9 tcf (255 bcm) of gas. The AREA OFF-3 licence was awarded to the CEG on 2 June 2023 under the Uruguay Open Round (RUA) process and it expects to have its first exploration period on 7 June 2024, running for four years, until 6 June 2028.
CEG recently entered into a farm-out agreement with Chevron Uruguay Exploration for a 60% interest for the AREA OFF-1 block in March 2024 on a US$12.5m deal.
Uruguay does not currently produce oil or gas, nor has hydrocarbon reserves. The country imports all of its oil consumption.