ExxonMobil begins exploration for more oil at Lau-Lau 2 well

– 315 feet of oil reservoir already discovered at Lau-Lau 1 well in 2022

Oil giant ExxonMobil Guyana has begun appraisal drilling at its Lau-Lau 2 well site in the Stabroek Block, where, over two years ago, the company had discovered over 300 feet of oil in the Lau-Lau 1 well.
Announcement of the drilling start-up was made by the Maritime Administration (MARAD) Department, and the appraisal is expected to last from June 16 to July 31, 2024. Drillship MODU Noble Sam Croft, which had previously operated on several wells in Guyana, will be undertaking the drilling, with the help of a range of other vessels.
“The well site is situated approximately 110.4 nautical miles (204.5 kilometres) off the coast of Guyana, and covers an area of 0.29 square nautical miles (1 square kilometre)…all mariners are required to stay clear of these vessels, and navigate with extreme caution,” MARAD announced.

The Lau-Lau 1 and Fangtooth-1 oil finds in the Stabroek Block had been simultaneously announced in January 2022. At that time, these discoveries had brought the number of discoveries in that Block to 27. Exxon had announced that the Lau-Lau 1 well had 315 feet of oil reservoir, while the Fangtooth-1 had 164 feet of oil reservoir.
It was explained that the Fangtooth well was drilled by the Stena DrillMAX, while the Lau-Lau well was drilled by the Noble Don Taylor. These are two of six drill ships that were supporting exploration and development drilling across the three blocks operated by ExxonMobil offshore Guyana. ExxonMobil’s Senior Vice President of exploration and new ventures, Mike Cousins, had said at the time that the discovery not only increased Exxon’s resource estimates, but added to the company’s understanding of the Block.
“Initial results from the Fangtooth and Lau-Lau wells are a positive sign for Guyana, and continue to demonstrate the potential for the country’s growing oil and gas sector, ExxonMobil and our co-venturers in the Stabroek Block,” Cousins had said. “The Fangtooth discovery is a successful result of our strategy to test deeper prospectivity, and the Lau-Lau discovery adds to the large inventory of development opportunities in the southeast part of the Stabroek Block. Both discoveries increase our understanding of the resource, our continued confidence in the Block’s exploration potential, and our view that the many discoveries to date could result in up to 10 development projects.”

Lau-Lau 2 had also been part of Exxon’s exploratory programme, as laid out in its insurance contract…along with the Haimara 3 and 4 gas wells, the Trumpetfish-1, Bluefin-1, Hatchetfish-1, and Redmouth-1 wells.
While over 30 oil discoveries have already been made in the Stabroek Block since 2015, much attention is also being turned to the gas potential therein, some 17 trillion cubic feet of gas having already been found there, with the Pluma and Haimara wells being proven gas fields.
Government is seeking to develop this gas. One way it is doing this is by the Gas-to-Energy project, which is pegged at more than US$1 billion.
That project would feature approximately 220 kilometres of a subsea pipeline offshore from the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels in the Stabroek Block to Wales, West Coast Demerara. Upon landing on shore, the pipeline would continue for approximately 25 kilometres to the Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) plant to be constructed in Wales. The pipeline would be 12 inches in diameter, and is expected to transport some 50 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of dry gas to the NGL plant, but can push as much as 120 mmscfd.
The main feature of the Gas-to-Shore initiative is a power plant that would generate between 250 and 300 megawatts of power using natural gas from offshore, which would significantly reduce the cost of electricity in Guyana.
The aim is to deliver rich gas for the power plant by the end of 2024, while the NGL facility is slated to be online by 2025. Already, the Government of Guyana has identified United States company Fulcrum LNG to help design and develop the natural gas processing facility. (G-3)