ExxonMobil is moving ahead with its next set of developments in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana, with Uaru, Whiptail and Hammerhead approved and progressing toward startup between 2026 and 2029, while Longtail remains in the planning stage as the company’s first proposed gas and condensate project in the basin.
About the developments:
Uaru will be ExxonMobil’s fifth development offshore Guyana. It is designed to add 250,000 barrels per day to national output once online.
Uaru (approved)
• Fields: Uaru, Mako, Snoek
• Resource: 800 million barrels of oil
• Development wells: 40 – 76
• First oil: 2026 (expected)
• Production capacity: 250,000 barrels per day
• FPSO storage: 2 million barrels
• Estimated cost: US$12.7 billion
Whiptail will be ExxonMobil’s sixth development in the block. It mirrors the 250,000 barrel-per-day design used in recent projects.
Whiptail (approved)
• Fields: Whiptail, Pinktail, Tilapia
• Resource: 850 million barrels of oil
• Development wells: 33 – 72
• First oil: late 2027 – early 2028
• Production capacity: 250,000 barrels per day
• FPSO storage: 2 million barrels
• Offloading: approximately every 3 – 6 days
• Estimated cost: US$12.7 billion
Hammerhead will be the seventh development. It carries a lower production capacity than Uaru and Whiptail but continues the phased buildout of the block.
Hammerhead (approved)
• Field: Hammerhead
• Development wells: 14 – 30
• First oil: 2029
• Production capacity: 150,000 barrels per day
• FPSO storage: 1.4 million barrels
Longtail is designed as a gas and condensate project. It will prioritize liquids recovery while re-injecting most of the gas in its early years to maintain reservoir pressure and maximize condensate output. The project is expected to rely entirely on gas recycling instead of water injection, with twice the gas compression capacity of previous floating production, storage and offloading vessels.
Longtail (proposed, not yet approved)
• Focus: gas and condensate
• Expected production: 1 – 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day and up to 290,000 barrels per day of condensate
• FPSO storage: up to 2 million barrels of condensate
• Offloading: every 3 – 5 days
• Wells: estimated 24 – 60
• Reservoirs: Longtail, Tripletail, Turbot discoveries (2017 – 2019)
• Production life: 30 years (planned)
• Location: easternmost offshore development
