Esso for more seismic work in Stabroek Block

With data gathered from seismic works in parts of the Stabroek Block leading to the discovery of around 5 billion barrels of oil, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) plans to soon continue exploration in the remaining areas.

“We completed seismic data acquisition on the majority of the Stabroek Block in 2016. We are progressing plans for the remainder of the block, the western portion, and that work should commence soon,” Public and Government Affairs Officer of ExxonMobil Deedra Moe explained yesterday.

The Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) yesterday notified mariners that EEPGL commenced seismic works in the Stabroek Block area, on December 6 2018. The notice said that the exercise would see six vessels being used and that it would last until the end of this month. “The survey area covers approximately 12,000 square kilometers …,” the notice said listing the coordinates.

But Moe explained that while permits needed were already had, the works had not yet started and that the company was working on final details with government.

“We are progressing plans for 3-D seismic data acquisition of the western portion of the Stabroek Block. We have received permits to proceed and are working final reviews with the Government,” she said reminding that the company had completed 3-D seismic data acquisition on the majority of the Stabroek Block in 2016.

Earlier this year, ExxonMobil had boasted that its deep-water seismic technologies are ahead of their competitors saying that it had identified new oil leads here and will continue to pursue them throughout this year.

“Our proprietary seismic imaging technology helps us see opportunities in the subsurface that others cannot. We successfully used this technology on recent discoveries in the Black Sea and offshore Guyana,” the company told its shareholders in a 110 pages, 2017 operating and Financial Review, it released in April.

The review also added that the company has “identified additional leads, and exploration and development activities will continue throughout 2018.”

Informing that it holds more than 11 million acres offshore Guyana, ExxonMobil played up the large volume of space that it has acquired here and pointed out that in the upstream, it was pursuing high impact new opportunities.

“Equivalent to approximately 2,000 Gulf of Mexico lease blocks, our Guyana position spans 11.5 million acres. This sizable position, along with our six discoveries since 2015, provides significant growth potential in Guyana. This year, we acquired an additional 7,000 square kilometers of seismic data over the Stabroek and Kaieteur blocks,” the report stated. While adding that it undertook some 30,000 km2 of 3D seismic data acquisition since July 2015, in an area large “enough to cover Belgium”.