ExxonMobil is set to drill the Hamlet-1 exploration well this year as it pushes deeper into the southeastern part of the prolific Stabroek Block in search of a new oil play.
That portion – near the Suriname border – has produced discoveries with more natural gas than oil. The Guyanese government has been focused on exploiting their gas resources. The current reserve estimate is 17 trillion cubic feet.
Exxon has been appraising the area and its Guyana President, Alistair Routledge said during a Feb. 12 press briefing that the process has ended.
“It’s only a couple weeks ago that we completed the final activity, which [is] what we call a drill sample test, a short period when we actually flow fluids from the reservoir to the drill ship. That enables us to see how well reservoirs perform dynamically, what sort of pressure and pulse do we see across the reservoirs,” he explained.
Routledge said the data collected is being analyzed to refine geological and reservoir models, incorporating static data from well penetrations and dynamic insights from drill stem tests.
That process helps calibrate seismic readings, improving the understanding of reservoir distribution and determining the number of wells needed for efficient fluid extraction. The findings will guide potential upstream development beyond the proposed Longtail development.
Exxon has so far added three oil developments, which are producing over 600,000 barrels per day (b/d). It has a line of sight to add four more projects, which could end up producing 1.5 million b/d by 2029.
