ExxonMobil has announced a discovery at its Pink-tail well in the Stabroek Block, offshore Guyana, adding to the previous recoverable resource estimate of approximately 9 billion oil equivalent barrels.
“The Pinktail well encountered 220 feet (67 meters) of net pay in high quality hydrocarbon bearing sandstone reservoirs,” the company said in a statement issued on Thursday morning.
Exxon also announced that in addition to the successful appraisal of the Turbot discovery, the Turbot-2 well encountered 43 feet (13 meters) of net pay in a newly identified, high quality hydrocarbon bearing sandstone reservoir separate from the 75 feet (23 meters) of high quality, oil bearing sandstone reservoir pay encountered in the original Turbot-1 discovery well. It explained that this follows the additional pay in deeper reservoirs encountered at the previously announced Whiptail discovery.
“These discoveries are part of an extensive well program in the Stabroek Block utilizing six drillships to test play extensions and new concepts, evaluate existing discoveries and complete development wells for the Liza Phase 2 and Payara projects,” Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil, was quoted as saying. “Our exploration successes continue to increase the discovered resource and will generate value for both the Guyanese people and our shareholders,” he added.
Pinktail, which was drilled in 5,938 feet (1,810 meters) of water by the Noble Sam Croft, is located approximately 21.7 miles (35 kilometers) southeast of the Liza Phase 1 project, which began production in December 2019, and 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) southeast of Yellowtail-1.
The Turbot-2 discovery is located approximately 37 miles (60 kilometers) to the southeast of the Liza phase one project, and 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) from the Turbot-1 discovery announced in October 2017. Turbot-2 was drilled in 5,790 feet (1,765 meters) of water by the Noble Sam Croft.
With the announcement, the Government of Guyana said it was confident that the additional discoveries will serve to further catapult Guyana’s monumental transition as a country with world-class discoveries of high-quality hydrocarbon.
In a statement, the Ministry of Natural Resources said the Government of Guyana remains committed in engaging all stakeholders towards the beneficial development of the resources for all Guyanese in a sustainable and responsible manner. Against this background, it noted that the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Petroleum Sector regulatory agencies have been mandated to enhance the oversight and management of the exploration programs of all operators to further expand the sector through advancing commercial discoveries.
ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator of the 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers) Stabroek Block, where it holds 45 per cent interest. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 per cent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guy-ana Limited holds 25 per cent interest.
