ExxonMobil Guyana has increased its estimate of reserves in its Stabroek Block development projects by 600 million barrels on top of the estimates announced when the projects were sanctioned.
“We review the reserves of each project each year and make adjustments based on drilling results (e.g. previously unpenetrated reservoir identified by the drill bit) and reservoir performance (which can cause reserves to go up or down),” the company told OilNOW in a May 14 comment, deeming such reviews normal industry practice.
Alistair Routledge, Exxon’s Guyana President, said during an April 30 press conference that 4.8 billion barrels have been committed to the six projects. While initial releases from Exxon when these projects were sanctioned indicate a combined total of approximately 4.2 billion barrels, Exxon confirmed that Routledge’s comment “reflects an overall increase of 0.6 billion (or 600 million barrels) of additional reserves identified since the projects were approved.”
Exxon has produced more than 370 million barrels of oil from the Liza 1, Liza 2 and Payara projects since December 2019. It expects to surpass half a billion barrels by the end of the year. The Yellowtail, Uaru, and Whiptail projects are expected to increase the rate of oil production when they start in 2025, 2026 and 2027.
ExxonMobil’s overall estimate of its Stabroek Block reserves is 11 billion oil-equivalent barrels, with approximately 20% being gas. The company has made 10 discoveries after updating the overall total to 11 billion barrels. This has prompted questions about why an update is taking so long. Routledge said last month that the total has not moved significantly.
ExxonMobil is working to unlock more resources, with drilling of the anchor-hunting wells named Redmouth and Trumpetfish. ExxonMobil operates the Stabroek Block with a 45% stake, while Hess has 30% and CNOOC has 25%.
