ExxonMobil is evaluating several wells on its multi-billion-barrel Stabroek block offshore the South American country of Guyana where it has made a record 14 discoveries since 2015.
As the US oil major looks for new plays in different areas on the 6.6 million acres block, it also has to get a better understanding of the discoveries it has already made to determine their full magnitude in volume and the geology of the rock.
The company said in the announcement of the Tripletail discovery that the Stena Carron drillship has been drilling the Ranger-2 well after which it will conduct a well test at Yellowtail-1.
Ranger is particularly important since it represents a different type of geologic play – carbonate versus sandstone – and has helped the company calibrate its understanding of some of the different areas on the block, potentially opening further prospects.
“We did some appraisal wells at Hammerhead and we are doing the evaluation on that. We are also looking at Ranger and doing evaluation on those,” said Deedra Moe, ExxonMobil Guyana Senior Director, Public and Government Affairs.
Hammerhead – the 9th discovery on the block – could potentially be the company’s fourth development in Guyana following the Liza one and two projects, as well as Payara.
“Hammerhead is certainly one of those in terms of a potential project 4, project 5 that we’re looking at in terms of how that comes into play in the next projects coming online. So, we’re excited about the potential there,” Moe pointed out.
Hammerhead has been described by Hess, a 30% co-venturer on the block, as a massive accumulation and very thick sand package. “In fact, it’s the thickest single sand package that we drilled on the block. It’s a very large structure so it’s going to require some additional appraisal. What we can say is that the results of the DST were good, meaning that the reservoir quality is excellent, and the reservoir seems to be well-connected,” Gregory P. Hill, President and Chief Operating Officer of Hess Corporation has said.
The Hammerhead-1 well encountered approximately 197 feet (60 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir after being drilled by the Stena Carron in August 2018.
