The results of the Payara-1 oil find confirm that Guyana is more than a “one hit wonder” as the country remains on target for oil production in 2020.
Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, is quoted by the Government Information Agency (GINA) as saying that the government was “happy” to have heard of the announcement.
Earlier yesterday, ExxonMobil, through its subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production, Guyana Limited, had announced that high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs were found at its Payara-1 well in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana.
“I believe we now can confirm that the basin is an active one that shows potential for more discoveries,” Trotman said. “Whether they would be very large or not is a matter that we need to wait to see but, I think we can now say that we’re heading into an oil and gas industry,” he added.
According to the Business Wire, the company announced that the drilling of the well “encountered more than 295 feet (90 meters) of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs. It was safely drilled to 17,825 feet (5,433 meters) in 5,719 feet (1,743 meters) of water.”
Trotman pointed out that the find coupled with the Liza discovery, will change the world view on Guyana. “I believe Liza, its size, and the fact that it is cutting edge, going into ultra-deep waters, it is generating much interest so this is again going to lift Guyana’s image as a country that is no longer seen as poor but we’re moving from potential to prosperity,” Trotman said.
Additionally, the minister is looking forward to the added investment that the find will attract to Guyana. “Before, if you had one well it didn’t take much to have one well developed. But, now that we have multiple wells, it will lead to multiple explorations and hopefully, producers of petroleum and natural gas in the future,” Trotman reasoned.
ExxonMobil moved its ‘Stena Carron’ drillship to the Payara location in November last with initial total depth reached on December 2, 2016. The Payara find will soon be evaluated for development alongside the Liza discovery. Liza 3 has the same high-quality reservoirs as the other two Lizas.
Last year, ExxonMobil’s Liza-2 offshore exploration found high propensity sandstone reservoirs that could produce more than 1.4 billion barrels of recoverable high quality oil.
The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres located offshore Guyana and this is where the Lizas are located. (Tiffny Rhodius)
