AIM-listed United Oil & Gas, the oil and gas company with a high impact exploration asset in Jamaica and a development asset in the UK, has announced that the R/V Gyre, operated by TDI Brooks International, mobilised from Trinidad on Saturday 17 January 2026 and is now en-route to Jamaica to undertake the planned offshore surface geochemical exploration survey on the Walton Morant Licence.
The vessel is expected to arrive in Kingston, Jamaica in approximately five to six days. Upon arrival, the R/V Gyre will undergo pre-survey inspection and acceptance procedures, following which it will be prepared to commence offshore operations on or around 27 January 2026.
Once the offshore survey programme commences, the vessel will initially complete the multibeam echo sounder (MBES) survey. This will be followed by heat flow measurements and seabed piston coring operations.
Following completion of the offshore operations, recovered core samples will be shipped to TDI Brooks' laboratory in the United States for detailed geochemical analysis. Preliminary results are expected approximately one to two months after completion of the survey, with final analysis expected around mid-2026. The offshore survey programme is designed to confirm the presence of thermogenic hydrocarbons and further de-risk the basin, providing key data to support future exploration activity on the Walton Morant Licence.
The Company expects to provide further updates as the survey progresses, including updates following commencement of offshore operations and following completion and review of the MBES survey, which will inform the final selection of piston coring locations.
Piston Coring Target Areas - Illustrative Example
The image below illustrates an example of a potential piston coring target location (for illustrative purposes only and not to scale).
As shown, certain seabed features such as shallow depressions or pockmarks, some of which can extend to several hundred metres in diameter, can often be associated with hydrocarbons venting at the seafloor. These surface features may be linked to subsurface seismic features indicative of fluid migration, including vertical migration pathways (or fluid escape chimneys) and shallow amplitude anomalies which, in the image below, can be seen directly beneath the surface pockmarks, together with nearby seismic responses that may represent direct hydrocarbon indicators (DHIs) in the form of bright soft amplitude responses.
Figure 1. Seismic detail and overlying seabed character at an example target location for piston coring.
By targeting such features, the piston coring programme is intended to test for the presence of a thermogenic hydrocarbon signature in recovered seabed sediment. A positive result would provide direct evidence of an active petroleum system and materially derisk the prospectivity of the Walton Morant Licence.
Brian Larkin, CEO of United Oil & Gas, commented:
'This survey represents a key milestone in advancing our Jamaica exploration programme. With the R/V Gyre now en route, we are entering an important phase of data acquisition that is expected to significantly enhance our understanding of the basin.
The results will play a central role in de-risking the licence and informing future strategic decisions as we continue to unlock the potential value of over 7.1 billion barrels of unrisked prospective resources in this highly prospective offshore area.'
Source: United Oil & Gas
