ExxonMobil has plans to test its Ranger discovery in the Stabroek Block, President of the Guyana operations, Alistair Routledge, confirmed on Feb. 9.
Made in 2018, it was Exxon’s sixth discovery and was its deepest in that year, some 60 miles northwest of the prolific Liza field. Back then, Exxon had only racked up five discoveries, totalling an estimated 3.2 billion recoverable oil-equivalent barrels and Ranger gave the co-venturers better insight into the Stabroek Block’s potential.
Routledge described the Ranger discovery as small, noting that it would not be particularly economical as a stand-alone development.
Rystad Energy’s Senior Analyst, Sonya Boodoo said back in July 2018 that Ranger could hold some 346 million barrels of oil. Rystad updated this estimate in July 2022 to 432 million barrels. In December 2022, S&P Global Platts provided a new estimate – between 500 and 600 million barrels of oil.
“[So] what we are doing, we finished drilling the Tarpon well, [we] moved to Kokwari and we have a couple of other prospects out there that we are trying different plays to see if we can find some additional resource that might support the Ranger resource being developed,” he explained.
According to Stabroek Block co-venturer, Hess, the wells planned for 2023 will target a variety of prospects and play types, including lower-risk wells near existing discoveries and several penetrations that will test deeper intervals.
With the Stabroek Block, Exxon’s exploration activity is “very active”, Routledge noted further, as the company aims to up its current resource count of 11 billion barrels.
It is also looking to the Kaieteur and Canje Blocks; 12-well exploration campaigns are planned for each block this year. Exxon had explored both blocks before and Routledge explained that the company has “found nothing to be economic on its own.”
“But the geoscientists are digging deep into the data, really looking at the seismic data in order to evaluate what prospects might be viable,” he added.
