With over 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources discovered at Guyana’s Stabroek Block since 2015, operator ExxonMobil has sanctioned around 560,000 barrels per day (bpd) so far and is set to add another 250,000 when its largest project in the country to date is approved this year.
The oil major and authorities in the South American country have been keen to turn discovered barrels into sanctioned barrels, starting with the Liza Phase 1 Development which went into production less than five years from discovery. Over the past three years, the operator further sanctioned the Liza 2 and Payara projects. Yellowtail, set to deliver the biggest production volumes to date, is pending government approvals.
“These investments are only expected to grow, and so is the overall greenfield capex spent yearly in the region. Guyana will dominate for most of this decade, while Surinamese finds are set to get the green light over the next three to four years,” Rystad Energy said in an analysis seen by OilNOW.
The Norway-based independent energy research and business intelligence company said the commissioned capacity is expected to grow to more than 900,000 bpd in the next five years.
“In the medium term, the Guyanese oil fields are expected to produce about 1.4 million bpd. Suriname is expected to follow suit as operators TotalEnergies and Petronas sanction their respective discoveries – in our base case, we expect the current Surinamese finds to deliver more than 500,000 boepd at peak,” Rystad Energy said.
The consultancy group said by the end of this year it expects other companies to begin their drilling programs in the Guyana-Suriname basin.
“In Guyana, Repsol and CGX Energy are set to spin their drill bits, while in Suriname we expect Shell to drill as well. In Jamaica we could see United Oil & Gas drill the Colibre well on the Walton Morant license in 2022,” Rystad Energy stated.
Beyond Stabroek, Guyana has six other exploration blocks operated by various companies. Of these, Orinduik has had the most success so far as both wells drilled on the block encountered heavy oil.
Success at Stabroek Block and Block 52 in Suriname have pinned ExxonMobil as the leading explorer among its peers in the basin.
“So far, the US supermajor has firmed up over 4.4 billion boe of oil and gas resources during the 2015 to 2021 period,” Rystad Energy said.
The company and co-venturers also started 2022 with a bang, announcing two discoveries at Stabroek Block last week at the at the Fangtooth-1 and Lau Lau-1 wells.
Guyana’s Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat said the government remains confident that these two additional discoveries will further strengthen Guyana’s position as a country with world-class discoveries of high-quality hydrocarbons.
