ExxonMobil Corporation yesterday announced it has discovered additional oil in the Payara reservoir offshore Guyana, increasing the total Payara discovery to approximately 500 million oil-equivalent barrels.
In a statement from its Irving, Texas-based headquarters, it says that these positive well results increase the estimated gross recoverable resource for the entire Stabroek Block to between 2.25 billion oil-equivalent barrels and 2.75 billion oil-equivalent barrels. The main find remains the Liza well.
The statement said that the well was successfully drilled by ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited and encountered 59 feet (18 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone in the Payara field.
The well was safely drilled to 19,068 feet (5,812 meters) in approximately 7,000 feet (2,135 meters) of water. The well is only 12 miles (20 kilometers) northwest of the recently funded Liza phase 1 project on the Stabroek Block, which is approximately 130 miles offshore Guyana.
“Payara-2 confirms the second giant field discovered in Guyana,” said Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company. “Payara, Liza and the adjacent satellite discoveries at Snoek and Liza Deep will provide the foundation for world class oil developments and deliver substantial benefits to Guyana. We are committed to continue to evaluate the full potential of the Stabroek Block”, Greenlee asserted.
The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers). Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is the operator and holds 45 percent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 percent interest and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25 percent interest.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Natural Resources yesterday joined with President David Granger in congratulating ExxonMobil and its joint-venture partners for their latest efforts that led to the confirmation of the volume of the petroleum reserves regarding the Payara 2 well.
“The announcement marks another important milepost in the journey towards Guyana’s emergence as an oil producing state, and reinforces the reality that Guyana must continue to steadily and carefully build capacity in a race against time before that date”.
