…Govt welcomes find, assures of capacity building to enhance monitoring of exploration
ExxonMobil has announced two new oil finds in the Stabroek block, after it struck oil in the Sailfin-1 and Yarrow-1 wells, bringing its tally of oil finds since it first discovered oil in 2015, to 35 and continuing its above industry average development and production of oil in Guyana
According to Exxon, which is operating in Guyana’s waters through subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), the Sailfin-1 well encountered approximately 312 feet (95 meters) of hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone and was drilled in 4,616 feet (1,407 meters) of water.
Meanwhile, the Yarrow-1 well encountered approximately 75 feet (23 meters) of hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone and was drilled in 3,560 feet (1,085 meters) of water. It was revealed by Exxon that both wells were drilled by the Stena Carron drillship.
These discoveries are EEPGL’s eighth and ninth discoveries for 2023. In their statement, President of ExxonMobil Upstream Company, Liam Mallon, recommitted the company to continuing to develop its oil fields in a responsible manner. He also attributed the finds to a number of factors, not least to the staff and Exxon’s technological capabilities.
“Our unrivaled exploration success and accelerated pace of development in Guyana are a testament to our people, decades of experience, technology capabilities and steadfast focus on optimizing all aspects of operations,” Mallon said.
“We are committed to responsibly and safely developing this world-class resource to help meet global demand for secure, reliable and lower-emission energy. Our investments through the pandemic have allowed us to increase supply at this critical time, while creating value for the people of Guyana, our partners and shareholders.”
Capacity building
In a statement from the Natural Resources Ministry, the Government meanwhile welcomed the new oil discoveries. It had also assured that the ministry and its regulatory agencies continue to build capacity to enhance monitoring of exploration activities as Guyana’s offshore development and production accelerate.
“The Petroleum Sector regulatory agencies were mandated to enhance collaboration with all other operators to expedite their drill programmes as we seek to further expand the sector through the discoveries of recoverable high-quality hydrocarbon.”
“Additionally, the much-anticipated bidding round for the oil blocks offshore Guyana is expected to bring new and emerging major petroleum companies to further increase Guyana’s oil and gas potentials,” Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat said in the statement.
ExxonMobil’s first two sanctioned offshore Guyana projects, Liza Phase 1 and Liza Phase 2, had meanwhile achieved an average of nearly 360,000 barrels of oil per day in the third quarter of this year.
A third project, Payara, is expected to start-up by the end of 2023, and a fourth project, Yellowtail, is expected to start-up in 2025. ExxonMobil is currently pursuing environmental authorization for a fifth project, Uaru. By the end of the decade, ExxonMobil expects Guyana’s oil production capacity to be more than one million barrels a day.
Stabroek block
The oil rich Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers). Exxon, through subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), is the operator and holds 45 per cent interest in the Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd holds 30 per cent interest, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds the remaining 25 per cent interest.
So far, Exxon’s total investments in Guyana is Gy$1.3 trillion on its own, and over Gy$3 trillion with its partners. Additionally, the joint-venturers’ exploration and production plans up to 2025 would likely increase their investments to more than Gy$6 trillion.
Exxon, as operator in the Stabroek Block, is now responsible for 35 out of the 40 oil finds made in Guyana’s waters since 2015. In July of this year, it had announced oil finds at its Seabob-1 and Kiru-Kiru-1 wells.
The Seabob-1 well, drilled by the Stena Carron ship at a depth of 4660 feet, encountered 131 feet of oil. On the other hand, the Kiru-Kiru-1 well, drilled by the Stena DrillMAX at a depth of 5760 feet, encountered 98 feet of oil.
In April of this year, Exxon had also announced three oil finds in the Stabroek Block. The three discoveries were southeast of the Liza and Payara developments and at the time had brought the tally of discoveries made by ExxonMobil in Guyana in 2022 to five. The Lukanani well was spud and completed the Noble Tom Madden, while Barreleye was drilled by the Stena DrillMAX and Patwa by Noble Don Taylor. (G3)
