Exploration group Tullow Oil has announced that its drilling operations at the Jaguar-1 well off Guyana have ended.

In a statement today the company said it will plug and abandon the exploration well after high pressure prevented drilling.

“The decision to stop drilling at this point was unanimously agreed by all partners based on safety criteria and was taken after reaching a point in the well where the pressure design limits for safe operations prevented further drilling to the main objective”.

The explorers started drilling the Jaguar-1 well in the Georgetown Block in February.

The well was halted at 4,876 metres.

The entry into Guyana was intended to open a new oil frontier following Tullow's success in French Guiana where an estimated 840 million barrels were discovered.