ExxonMobil has made three new discoveries offshore Guyana and increased its estimate of the recoverable resource for the Stabroek Block to nearly 11 billion oil-equivalent barrels.
The three discoveries are southeast of the Liza and Payara developments and bring to five the discoveries made by ExxonMobil in Guyana in 2022.
The Barreleye-1 well encountered approximately 70 metres of hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone and was drilled in 1,170 metres of water. Drilling at Patwa-1 encountered 33 metres of hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone and was conducted in 1,925 metres of water. The Lukanani-1 well encountered 35 metres of hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone and was drilled in a water depth of 1,240 metres. Operations are ongoing at Barreleye-1 and Lukanani-1.
“These discoveries and the updated resource estimate increase the confidence we have in our ambitious exploration strategy for the Stabroek Block and will help to inform our future development plans for the southeast part of the block,” says Liam Mallon, president of ExxonMobil Upstream Company. “ExxonMobil remains committed to delivering value at an accelerated pace to the people of Guyana, our partners and shareholders and reliably supplying affordable energy to meet increasing demand around the world.”
CEO John Hess says, “These new discoveries further demonstrate the extraordinary resource density of the Stabroek Block and will underpin our queue of future development opportunities. We look forward to continuing to work with the Government of Guyana and our partners to realise the remarkable potential of this world class resource for the benefit of all stakeholders.”
ExxonMobil currently has four sanctioned projects offshore Guyana. Liza Phase 1 is producing approximately 130,000 barrels per day using the Liza Destiny floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Liza Phase 2, which started production in February, is steadily ramping up to its capacity of 220,000 barrels per day using the Liza Unity FPSO. The third project, Payara, is expected to produce 220,000 barrels per day; construction on its production vessel, the Prosperity FPSO, is running approximately 5 months ahead of schedule with start-up likely before year-end 2023. The fourth project, Yellowtail, is expected to produce 250,000 barrels per day when the ONE GUYANA FPSO comes online in 2025.
Guyana’s Stabroek Block is 26,800 square kilometres. ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is the operator and holds 45% interest in the Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30% interest, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25% interest.
