ExxonMobil’s Country Manager in Guyana, Rod Henson said that the oil giant has had an 80 per cent success rate in its exploration. “In my 30 years it is pretty unprecedented,” he added.
His comments come on the heels of a report made by Exxon on Monday projecting the recoverable resources in the Stabroek Block increasing to 4 billion oil-equivalent barrels, from a previous estimate of 3.2 billion oil-equivalent barrels.
In a statement, the oil giant said that the increase followed the completion of testing at the Liza-5 appraisal well; a discovery at Ranger; the eighth discovery, Longtail into the Turbot area evaluation; and completion of the Pacora discovery evaluation.
“We’re quite bullish to continue exploring to work with the government to evaluate this resource,” Henson told the Department of Public Information (DPI).
He said the future for Guyana is bright as the company envisions five developments which could push production to 750,000 barrels per day by 2025.
The company had said that phase 1 will consist of 17 wells connected to a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. This is designed to produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day.
Meanwhile, Phase 2 concepts are similar to phase 1 and will involve a second FPSO with production capacity of 220,000 barrels per day. A third development, Payara, is planned to follow Liza Phase 2.
It will begin production at the Liza phase one development in early 2020 and is currently perusing permits for Liza phase two development.
The company is eyeing a third development for production in 2023. The third development will be in the Payara field. It will begin perusing the developments next year.
A fourth development is expected in the Longtail-Turbot fields. “It looks like there could be a hub for a potential fourth development. We see the potential for a fifth development,” Henson noted.
The Stabroek Block covers 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres). ExxonMobil affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, is the operator and holds a 45 per cent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd holds a 30 per cent stake and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited holds the other 25 per cent.
