Continued success offshore the South American country of Guyana is once again playing a major role in the addition of discovered volumes and value creation for US oil major ExxonMobil and its Stabroek Block co-venturers, Hess and CNOOC.
“ExxonMobil can be declared explorer of the year for a second year in a row thanks to its ongoing efforts and results in Guyana, along with significant investments in Cyprus. The supermajor was exceptional, both in terms of discovered volumes and value creation from exploration,” says Palzor Shenga, a senior analyst on Rystad Energy’s upstream team.
The Norway-based energy research and business intelligence company said US independent Hess and Chinese state player CNOOC occupy the second and the third spots on the list of top explorers of 2019 in terms of value creation from new discoveries, with both benefiting from their partnership with ExxonMobil in the Stabroek block.
ExxonMobil discovered around 1.07 billion boe in additional net resources last year and Rystad Energy estimates the value creation from these volumes to be around $2.7 billion, “largely driven by the continued success in Guyana.”
Hess added about $2 billion in value from new discoveries last year, while CNOOC had value creation of about $1.8 billion, Rystad Energy pointed out.
In 2019 ExxonMobil made 5 discoveries at its massive Stabroek Block where it has found more than 6 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The 2019 discoveries by the oil major add to previous record oil strikes at Stabroek which now amount to 15 discoveries in total. 2019 discoveries include; Tilapia, Haimara, Yellowtail, Tripletail and Mako.
The company also began oil production in December at its giant Liza Phase 1 project which is the start of a series of planned developments that will see production in the South American country ramp up to around 750,000 bpd by 2025.
Schreiner Parker, Rystad Energy’s Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, told OilNOW in November that the total estimated revenue to be earned by the Guyana government from the Stabroek discoveries to date will be more than US$120 billion. This was before the last discovery at Stabroek announced by the oil major in December, at Mako-1.
