Omerod - who founded North Africa-focused former ASX IPO of the year Pura Vida Energy with Damon Neaves - now has a clear plan for Antilles, if he's allowed to carry it out.
"What we have got are two main strategies: onshore Colombia and Peru for near-term appraisal and production opportunities, and the second strand in the deepwater Caribbean for the blue sky potential," he told Energy News.
Ormerod and his fellow directors are facing a boardroom spill, with a number of shareholders who were involved in the transition of the company from Advanced Energy into Antilles now apparently keen to transform the company away from the oil and gas sector into one more en vogue, such as the tech space.
While Ormerod is fighting that action, he maintains a focus on putting assets into the company, primarily around central and southern America, and he believes most shareholders support that vision.
In March the company secured the 40,000sq.km onshore Block 105 in Peru from Russia's Siberian Oil Company that sold out because Block 105 is stuck in force majeure.
SibOil, which was awarded 100% of Block 105 in 2005, was supposed to spend $US6.2 million in the block over the course of seven years, but struck social engagement issues.
There are almost 30 Peruvian blocks were in suspension, largely due to social issues or environmental approvals being stalled, although the latest figures show the numbers are down year-on-year as issues are resolved.
Block 105 sits in the Titicaca Basin, on the banks of Lake Titicaca, adjacent to the Pirin field that produced in the early 1900s, and is considered to be the source kitchen for that field.
Antilles' only commitment in the block is to shoot 200km of new 2D seismic survey in the primary one-year term at a cost of $2.5 million, with any drilling put off until a subsequent exploration term, but yesterday's announcement indicates the company is keen to fast-track drilling.
Ormerod looks like being able to get exploration moving again, with reprocessing of the existing 2D seismic data before the drilling.
"We want to drill a structure that in 10km to the west of Pirin, with around 30MMbbl potential, that is worth about $US10/bbl of oil," he said.
There is further upside beneath the salt structures in the area, which have produced in the nearby Maranon Basin.
Prospects above the salt are compressional anticlines, which have proved productive at Pirin, while the subsalt plays are simple tilted fault blocks.
Wells are expected to cost just $US2.5 million, so farminee Union Group, a Uruguayan oil and gas fund, is expected to easily cover most of the costs.
Union has agreed to fund 75% of the well to be drilled in 2016 up to a cap of $3 million.
The exploration well will target a mean 29.6MMbbl shallow target and a deeper mean 100MMbbl target
Antilles will reduce to 50% equity in the block.
Having established a foothold in Peru, Antilles has subsequently secured a technical evaluation agreement in the offshore areas.
The Sechura Basin contains the proven Muerto formations, which has sourced billions of barrels of oil, some of which has been recovered in fields to the west.
Antilles' area has good oil shows in two wells and near the block, Puira-1 and San Alberto-1X, that have been sampled and prove the extent and presence of a working hydrocarbon system.
Large-scale reservoirs consisting of good quality deep water sands are present in the wells in the Tertiary to Upper Cretaceous section.
The area contains simple inversion structures within the main graben with substantial resource potential, and the idea is to work up some targets.
Currently it's prohibitively expensive to mobilise a rig to Peru, but once the new Panama Canal is completed next year that should change, with drilling rigs expected to be able to use the expanded canal.
That gives the junior plenty of time to find a partner.
In Colombia, Omerod is confident of closing a deal for near-term over at least one asset that will work in $50/bbl.
Antilles has its paws on two opportunities, both fairly shallow, with one heavy oil and one light oil opportunity.
Both have existing discoveries that offer immediate appraisal opportunities, which Antilles would aim to put on long-term production testing, Omerod said.
Omerod has a lot of experience in Colombia via his BHP Billiton connections, and says the new contract terms are better than previous contracts that were little more than payment for work.
"We are trying to get production within two years, so we have cashflow," he said.
The pipeline infrastructure is there to support that.
Frontier
The deepwater offshore areas are a longer term frontier play, and while not as popular right now, Omerod is from the school that believes now is the best time to invest in the deeper water Caribbean, believing prospects can be worked up for drilling when oil and gas prices recover.
The company is chasing the same generative system seen in Venezuela.
BHP has invested heavily in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, budgeting hundreds of millions on exploration, and Omerod is keen to get involved, using the nimbleness of a junior to work up some acreage for farm-out.
"We see very good plays in the eastern Caribbean, and we qualified to bid in Barbados, which has very strict conditions around qualification, and we believe that we will be awarded some acreage by the end of the year," he said.
There will be 3D seismic shot in the area with Polarcus with no drilling required in the primary term.
"Polarcus will come in at then block level with an equity position, and then shoot the seismic, which is quite attractive to the government as well because they can see who will fund that and shoot the 3D versus a minnow which may not have the funding at the time," Ormerod said.
"I think it's a good joint venture structure."
In the second permit term the idea is that the drilling will be farmed out on the basis of the 3D.
It worked for Omerod's part project in Peru and Brazil with Karoon Gas Australia, and Pura Vida Energy in Morocco.
"I have a track record of being able to do it, and I believe I will be able to do it again," he said.
