It’s the block that keeps giving.
U.S. oil major ExxonMobil announced on Thursday another oil discovery on the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana at Pinktail. The Pinktail well encountered 220 feet (67 meters) of net pay in high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir. Pinktail is located approximately 21.7 miles (35 kilometers) southeast of the Liza Phase 1 development, which began production in December 2019, and 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) southeast of Yellowtail-1. Pinktail was drilled in 5,938 feet (1,810 meters) of water by the Noble Sam Croft.
In addition to successful appraisal of the Turbot discovery, the Turbot-2 well encountered 43 feet (13 meters) of net pay in a newly identified, high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir separate from the 75 feet (23 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir pay encountered in the original Turbot-1 discovery well. The Turbot-2 discovery is another example of the additional pay found in deeper reservoirs such as those encountered at the previously announced Whiptail discovery. These results will be incorporated into future developments. The Turbot-2 discovery is located approximately 37 miles (60 kilometers) to the southeast of the Liza Phase 1 development and 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) from Turbot-1. Turbot-2 was drilled in 5,790 feet (1,765 meters) of water by the Noble Sam Croft.
“These discoveries are part of an extensive well program in the Stabroek Block utilizing six drillships to test play extensions and new concepts, evaluate existing discoveries and complete development wells for the Liza Phase 2 and Payara projects,” said Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil. “Our exploration successes continue to increase the discovered resource and will generate value for both the Guyanese people and our shareholders.”
Meanwhile, CEO of Hess Corporation, John Hess, said, “We are happy to announce our 20th significant discovery on the Stabroek Block, which will add to the discovered recoverable resource estimate of more than 9 billion barrels of oil equivalent.”
Separately, the Liza Unity floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel set sail from Singapore to Guyana in early September. The FPSO will be utilized for the Liza Phase 2 development, which is expected to begin production in early 2022, with a production capacity of approximately 220,000 gross barrels of oil per day. The Liza Destiny FPSO is currently producing approximately 120,000 gross barrels of oil per day.
The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres. At least six FPSOs are expected to be online by 2027 with the potential for up to 10 FPSOs on the block to develop the current discovered recoverable resource base. ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds 45 percent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 percent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25 percent interest.
