Deeper potential for hydrocarbons in multiple zones offshore Guyana at the giant Stabroek Block will continue to come under the drilling bit this year and into 2022 as the search for more oil intensifies in the South American country. Of particular interest to explorers is the upcoming Fangtooth prospect.
OilNOW understands that deeper zones can also serve as infill to existing Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels in coming years, to extend the production plateau.
Acknowledging the existence of tails on deeper wells, John Hess, CEO of Hess Corporation, a 30% stakeholder at the Stabroek Block, said two recent wells in particular—Whiptail and Pinktail, both had deeper zones with good quality hydrocarbons.
“So, as we move forward, particularly at the end of the year, we’re going to drill a well called Fangtooth. That well is designed for that deeper zone so it will be targeting only that deeper zone,” Hess said.
The drill campaign at Fangtooth, located 9 miles northwest of Liza-1, will be a dedicated test of the deep potential at the prospect.
“So, that will be a real key piece of data and the way we see these, is they could either be all in-fillers…because a lot of this is in and around what will be future developments. They’re tails of existing wells or in the case of Fangtooth, if it’s big enough, it can potentially be a standalone hub on its own so it’s going to be a combination of tiebacks and potentially hub-class deeper opportunities on their own right.”
A key analyst at Norway-based Rystad Energy told OilNOW in a recent interview that testing the deeper zones at existing discoveries is a cost-effective way of ramping up discovered resources and makes for good economics when taken to the development stage.
“I think it’s a low hanging fruit mentality which is, when you already have the infrastructure, the knowledge and when you have everything already around you, and so it’s more cost-effective and it’s low-hanging fruit,” said Schreiner Parker, Rystad Energy’s Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Whereas, if you go to drill Ranger, for example, you’re really sort of starting the process all over again…”
Parker said he believes that ExxonMobil, operator at the Stabroek Block, “will drill every viable prospect that they can” on the license.
‘I think there’s a lot of excitement about that asset within the company itself. I think there’s a lot of excitement about the country of Guyana as an oil province and a long-term source of supply for Exxon, or at least a supply that’s going to take you into the 2030’s, 2040’s and potentially give you a seat at the supply table in 2050,” Parker said.
