ExxonMobil appoints new Country Manager for Guyana

Exxon Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), the local branch of global oil giant ExxonMobil, will see some significant changes as its President, Rod Henson, leaves Guyana to take up a new job in Houston, Texas as Exxon’s global Vice President for wells.

According to a statement from ExxonMobil on Wednesday, Henson will be replaced by current President and General Manager for ExxonMobil Qatar Limited, Alistair Routledge.

Henson, whose new role will give him responsibility for all of Exxon’s global drilling activities, was quoted as saying: “Alistair is very

well suited to take our work in Guyana to the next level given his years of experience heading up ExxonMobil’s operations in Qatar”.
“This has been the best and most rewarding job I have ever had. Guyana is a great country with amazing people, and I was privileged to have an awesome team that made my time here truly rewarding,” he said.
According to the statement, during Henson’s tenure, he presided over a number of important operational milestones, including the production of Guyana’s first oil in December 2019.
According to Exxon, more than 4200 people now support its operations in Guyana, 2200 of whom are Guyanese.
Under Henson, Exxon made five discoveries in Guyana last year. These discoveries have pushed the total estimated recoverable barrels of oil equivalent to over six billion. In addition, Exxon was moving ahead with its Liza phase two project, which will contain approximately 30 wells, after receiving the requisite approvals from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
It made one discovery for 2020, the Uaru discovery, which was announced in January. Uaru is ExxonMobil’s 16th oil discovery in the Stabroek Block. The Uaru-1 well was drilled in a new reservoir, encountering approximately 94 feet (29 metres) of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir and was drilled in 6342 feet (1933 metres) of water.
Guyana lifted its first million barrels of profit oil in February, with oil tanker Cap Philippe transporting it from the Liza Destiny Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel and received its first payment the next month.
The past few months have been a trying time for Exxon and the oil industry in general, however. Only recently, ExxonMobil had announced that it would seek to scale down its operations in the wake of the global uncertainty in financial markets caused by COVID-19.
In a statement, ExxonMobil Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Darren Woods had noted that Exxon was evaluating ways to cut back on its investment costs. With a presence in numerous countries, including Guyana, this could have serious implications for oil exploration and production, as well as the oil revenues for such countries.
“Based on this unprecedented environment, we are evaluating all appropriate steps to significantly reduce capital and operating expenses in the near term. We will outline plans when they are finalised,” Woods was quoted as saying in the statement.
“We remain focused on being a safe, low-cost operator and creating long-term value for shareholders,” Woods also said, adding that ExxonMobil has faced numerous market downturns throughout its long history and, therefore, had experience operating in a sustained low-price environment.