ExxonMobil Guyana achieved a milestone in the first half of 2024, producing approximately 113.5 million barrels of crude oil in just six months. This is almost equivalent to the 114.2 million barrels produced in the first nine months of 2023. The average production rate in H1 2024 was 623,000 barrels per day (b/d), significantly higher than the approximate 376,000 b/d in the first nine months of 2023.
The steep rise in production is largely attributed to the addition of the Payara Project in November 2023. Before Payara came online, ExxonMobil was producing crude oil only from the Liza 1 and Liza 2 projects alone. Payara quickly ramped up to its initial production target of 220,000 b/d, and with optimization work, it peaked at 252,000 barrels on one day at the end of June 2024.
This increase in production has resulted in significantly higher volumes of crude oil and consequently, higher revenues for ExxonMobil, its co-venturers in the Stabroek Block, and the Guyana government. Data from the Ministry of Natural Resources shows that 142.9 million barrels of crude were produced in the entire year of 2023. In January 2024, the government revealed that it expected Exxon to produce approximately 202 million barrels for the year. By the halfway mark of the year, the produced volume accounted for 56% of this target. With higher-than-expected production at the three offshore projects, especially the optimized output from Payara, it is likely that the total production for 2024 will exceed the government’s projection.
Exxon to surpass half billion barrels of cumulative oil production in Guyana by yearend
In the first six months of 2024, average daily production at the three projects was approximately 157,000 b/d at Liza 1, 244,000 b/d at Liza 2, and 221,000 b/d at Payara. Payara’s rapid production ramp-up is considered unrivaled in the industry.
The rapidly increasing output offshore Guyana contributed to ExxonMobil Corp’s record quarterly production in Q2 2024, alongside its assets in the Permian Basin. Exxon reported that its earnings in the second quarter of the year represented the second highest Q2 earnings of the past decade.
Liza field downtime to only last weeks, will not affect Exxon’s production targets
Guyana continues to play a pivotal role in Exxon’s global operations. With current production averaging over 600,000 b/d in 2024, further increases are expected, with projections indicating production could exceed 1.2 million b/d by 2027.
Exxon is the operator of the Stabroek Block with a 45% stake, supported by Hess (30%) and CNOOC (25%).
