ExxonMobil today said it made an oil discovery on the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana at the Tripletail-1 well in the Turbot area.
The discovery adds to the previously announced estimated recoverable resource of over 6 billion oil-equivalent barrels on the Stabroek Block, the US oil major said in a release today. This would be its 14th find since May, 2015.
The announcement came on the heels of another oil find offshore this morning by UK firm Tullow. https://www.stabroeknews.com/2019/09/16/news/guyana/tullow-in-another-major-oil-find/
Exxon said that Tripletail-1 encountered approximately 108 feet (33 meters) of a high-quality oil bearing sandstone reservoir. Tripletail-1, drilled in 6,572 feet (2,003 meters) of water, is situated approximately 3 miles northeast of the Longtail find. After completion of operations at Tripletail, the Noble Tom Madden drillship will next drill the Uaru-1 well, approximately 6 miles east of the Liza field.
“This discovery helps to further inform the development of the Turbot area,” said Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil. “Together with our partners, ExxonMobil is deploying industry-leading capabilities to identify projects that can be developed efficiently and in a cost-effective way.”
Exxon said that exploration and development activities are moving forward elsewhere on the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana. The Stena Carron drillship is presently drilling the Ranger-2 well and upon completion will conduct a well test at Yellowtail-1. The Noble Bob Douglas drillship is at the moment completing development drilling operations for the Liza Phase 1 project. ExxonMobil will add a fourth drillship, the Noble Don Taylor, in October 2019 as it continues to optimize drilling plans based on well results and ongoing study of the basin.
The release said that the Liza Phase 1 development remains on schedule to start up by early 2020 and will produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day utilizing the Liza Destiny floating production storage and offloading (FPSO), which arrived in Guyana on August 29, 2019.
ExxonMobil, the release said, approved funding for the Liza Phase 2 development after it received government and regulatory approvals in May 2019. Expected to startup by mid-2022, the project plans to use the Liza Unity FPSO to produce up to 220,000 barrels of oil per day. Pending government approvals, Exxon said that a third development, Payara startup could be as early as 2023 and production would reach an estimated 220,000 barrels of oil per day.
The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers). ExxonMobil company Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds 45 percent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. Has 30 percent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds 25 percent interest.
