United States (US) oil company ExxonMobil has resumed development drilling at the Haimara-4 well, one of the wells where the company is hoping to gauge the commercial potential for gas in the Haimara gas field off the shores of Guyana.
In a notice published on Wednesday, the Public Works Ministry’s Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) revealed that Exxon will be using the MODU Stena Carron to conduct drilling at the Haimara-4 well in the Stabroek block.
The drilling activities, according to MARAD, will be concluded on October 31, 2024. Over 20 vessels, including the Gary Rook, Charlie Comeaux, C-Installer, Horn Island and Paradise Island, will be used in the exercise.
“All mariners are required to stay clear of these vessels and navigate with extreme caution in the vicinity. This notice supersedes information provided in Notice to Mariners 108 of 2024. Communication can be made to these vessels or the Georgetown Lighthouse on VHF Ch. 16,” MARAD further explained.
Back in 2019 and 2023, oil giant ExxonMobil drilled for gas at the Haimara-1 and 2 wells, though with varying degrees of success. The oil giant has for some time been gearing up for further appraisal drilling, this time at the Haimara-3 and 4 gas wells.
According to the company’s insurance contract, seen by this publication, the two wells are expected to be drilled in the company’s exploratory programme. Other wells that will be drilled are oil wells Lau Lau-2, Trumpetfish-1, Bluefin-1, Hatchetfish-1 and Redmouth-1.
In 2019, the Haimara-1 well was one of five wells in which oil was discovered, along with discoveries in the Tilapia-1, Yellowtail-1, Tripletail-1 and Mako-1 wells. These discoveries had pushed the total estimated recoverable barrels of oil equivalent to over six billion.
The well was drilled by the Stena Carron Drillship and is located 19 miles (31 kilometres) east of the Pluma-1 discovery in the southeast Stabroek Block. Meanwhile, last year Exxon explored for gas at the Haimara-2 appraisal well, using the Stena DrillMax.
In the Stabroek Block, some 17 trillion cubic feet of gas have already been found, with the Pluma and Haimara wells being proven gas fields. The government is seeking to develop this gas. One way it is doing this is by the Gas-to-Energy (GtE) project which is pegged at more than US$1 billion.
The project will 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 (WCD).
Upon landing on shore, the pipeline will continue for approximately 25 kilometres to the Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) plant to be constructed at 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 120 mmscfd.
The main feature of the gas-to-shore initiative is a power plant that will generate 250 to 300 megawatts of power using natural gas from offshore, which will significantly reduce the cost of electricity in Guyana.
The aim is to deliver rich gas by the end of 2024 for the power plant while the NGL facility is slated to be online by 2025. The Gas-to-Shore Project, which has a 25-year lifespan, is expected to employ up to 800 workers during the peak construction stage, as well as some 40 full-time workers during the operations stage, and another 50 workers during the decommissioning stage.
Last year, the government had also put out its draft Gas Monetisation Strategy for public feedback and earlier this year, President Dr Irfaan Ali had announced that the administration is including the comments it received in the initial strategy.
The monetisation of Guyana’s gas reserves has been described by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo as the next wave of economic opportunity for Guyana. As a matter of fact, Fulcrum LNG was recently selected by the government to design, finance, construct, and operate the required gas infrastructure to provide gas monetisation solutions and support the acceleration of upstream gas developments in Guyana.
