United States Oil Giant ExxonMobil, on Friday announced having reached total depth on the Sorubim Well in the Stabroek Block and coming up dry.
“Unfortunately, the well did not encounter commercial quantities of hydrocarbons. Exploration wells come with a certain amount of risk, and this is particularly true in frontier areas like Guyana. Success is not guaranteed. We have had great exploration success in Guyana with seven previous discoveries: Liza, Liza Deep, Payara, Pacora, Snoek, Ranger, and Turbot. Skipjack and now Sorubim are what we call ‘dry holes’,” the company said in a statement.
The Stena Carron drill ship
The company said it began drilling the Sorubim well on the Stabroek Block on April 3, 2018 and the Bob Douglas will complete this well and then move to begin drilling the Liza Phase 1 wells. The Stena Carron drill ship will continue to explore and evaluate other areas of the block.
The Stena Carron is currently drilling the Liza 5 well, which will likely be followed by a new prospect, called Long Tail.
Guyana will officially begin oil production in 2020.
The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres. Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is the operator, and holds a 45 per cent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd, Hess Corporation’s subsidiary, holds a 30 per cent interest, and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited holds a 25 per cent interest.
Since ExxonMobil’s 2015 oil find, Guyana has attracted international attention and precipitated intense sensitisation exercises. In May 2015, Exxon confirmed that more than 295 feet of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs were encountered at its Liza 1 exploration well.
In late June 2016, Exxon’s drilling results at Liza 2 revealed more than 58 metres of oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs in Upper Cretaceous formations. The well was drilled to 5475 metres at 1692 metres water depth. Drilling results confirmed recoverable resources to be between 800 million and 1.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
The company had announced that it made its third significant discovery in its drilling explorations offshore Guyana. Its partner, Hess Corporation, had noted that the Liza 3 exploratory well’s net value could be US$6.2 billion, based on calculations from the Bank of Montreal (BMO) Capital Markets.
Drilling on Payara began on November 12, 2016, with initial total depth reached on December 2, 2016. In January of 2017, the oil giant announced it had struck some 95 feet of oil reservoirs in its Payara-1 well, targeting the same type of reservoirs as the well’s Liza counterpart.
Oil was discovered in the Turbot-1 well in October of 2017. According to the oil company, following the discovery, the well reservoir was 75 feet deep. Drilling has been ongoing at the Turbot well since August 2017.
More oil was found at the Pacore-1 drill site, some 107 miles from the coast of Guyana. This would be the seventh major find by Exxon since May 2015. It is understood that additional exploration drilling is planned on the Stabroek Block for 2018, including potential appraisal drilling at the Ranger discovery.
