ExxonMobil officials have informed government that the company is committed to continuing exploration in the Stabroek Block and will be deploying additional resources there, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said on Wednesday.
Harmon told reporters that Cabinet was briefed on a recent visit by ExxonMobil President of Exploration Steven Greenlee, Executive Vice-President Exploration Mike Husten and Vice President of the Americas Erik Oswalk. He said Cabinet was informed that the company reaffirmed its commitment to the exploration work being done off Guyana’s shores and the executives spoke of the confidence the company has in its ongoing exploration activities.
According to Harmon, the executives informed that the company will be deploying additional resources to those activities.
The assurances come in the face of a maritime claim by Venezuela to a section of the Stabroek Block where ExxonMobil said it found a deposit of a “significant” amount of oil.
In a notice issued on Thursday, acting Harbour Master Michael Tennant announced that on July 6th, two contracted survey vessels would begin a 3D seismic survey on behalf of ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) within the Stabroek Block of the Guyana Maritime Zone.
According to the notice, the exercise is scheduled for a period of eight months and will cover an area of 3,500 square kilometres approximately 100 nautical miles from Guyana’s coast.
In May, ExxonMobil had announced that it had made a “significant oil discovery.” The announcement came after a decades-long search for hydrocarbons offshore Guyana.
The company stated that the Liza-1 well was drilled by EEPGL and “encountered more than 295 feet (90 meters) of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs.” The company said too that it was encouraged by the find and that over the next few months work would be done to “determine the commercial viability of the discovered resources, as well as evaluate other resource potential on the block.”
Shortly after the announcement, Venezuela made a maritime claim to the area where the discovery was made.
