US oil major ExxonMobil is projected to expend around US$50 billion in project sanctioning over the next 10 years for its offshore development activities in Guyana, according to Norway-based energy research and business intelligence company, Rystad Energy.
Of the 16 discoveries made so far at the prolific Stabroek Block, two developments have been sanctioned, namely Liza Phase 1 and 2. “So, with the fields that have not been sanctioned yet – the 14 discoveries that have not been sanctioned – these fields would require somewhere around 50 billion dollars in green-field expenditure, and that’s spending from project sanctioning to first oil,” Schreiner Parker, Rystad Energy’s Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, told OilNOW in a recent interview.
The estimated recoverable resources at Stabroek Block currently exceed 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent and this is expected to further increase, particularly with the recent detection of additional deposits at the Yellowtail-2 well area and ongoing exploration activities.
“We believe that ExxonMobil and its partners could commit at least one new FPSO unit each year for the next ten years to Guyana. So, we also estimate that more than 1.2 million barrels a day of production could be sanctioned by 2025,” Parker said.
He was quick to warn however that all this could be jeopardized if projects are not able to be sanctioned. “The danger is that this investment commitment of 50 billion dollars by 2030 is absolutely at risk if you cannot sanction these projects. That green-field expenditure is only going to come from sanctioning – the money that’s spent from sanctioning the first oil.”
ExxonMobil began producing oil offshore Guyana last December. Start up for the second phase of the Liza development is expected by mid-2022. A third project at Payara is currently awaiting government approval.
