ExxonMobil announces two more discoveries

-high-quality gas-condensate found

ExxonMobil said yesterday that it had made two additional discoveries offshore Guyana at the Tilapia-1 and Haimara-1 wells, bringing the total number of discoveries on the Stabroek Block to 12.

A release from its Irving, Texas office said that the discoveries build on the previously announced estimated recoverable resource of more than 5 billion oilequivalent barrels on the Stabroek block.

Tilapia-1 is the fourth discovery in the Turbot area that includes the Turbot, Longtail and Pluma finds. The release said that the Tilapia-1 encountered approximately 305 feet (93 meters) of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir and was drilled to a depth of 18,786 feet (5,726 meters) in 5,850 feet (1,783 meters) of water. The well is situated approximately 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers) west of the Longtail-1 well.

The Noble Tom Madden drillship began drilling the well on January 7 and will next drill the Yellowtail-1 well, approximately six miles (10 kilometers) west of Tilapia-1 in the Turbot zone. Baseline 4-D seismic data gathering is underway.

“We see a lot of development potential in the Turbot area and continue to prioritize exploration of high-potential prospects here,” said Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company. “We expect this area to progress to a major development hub providing substantial value to Guyana, our partners and ExxonMobil.”

The other discovery was made at the Haimara-1 well, which found approximately 207 feet (63 meters) of high-quality, gas-condensate bearing sandstone reservoir. The well was drilled to a depth of 18,289 feet (5,575 meters) in 4,590 feet (1,399 meters) of water. The release said that it is situated approximately 19 miles (31 kilometers) east of the Pluma-1 discovery and is a potential new area for development. The Stena Carron drillship began drilling the well on January 3 and will next return to the Longtail discovery to complete a well test.

ExxonMobil said that there is potential for at least five floating, production storage and offloading vessels (FPSO) on the Stabroek Block producing more than 750,000 barrels of oil per day by 2025. The Liza Phase 1 development is on schedule and is expected to begin producing up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day in early 2020, utilizing the Liza Destiny FPSO.

Liza Phase 2 is expected to startup by mid-2022. Pending government and regulatory approvals, sanctioning is expected in the first quarter of this year for the project, which will use a second FPSO designed to produce up to 220,000 barrels per day. Sanctioning of a third development, Payara, is also expected this year, and startup is expected as early as 2023.

The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers). ExxonMobil affiliate 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 Petroleum Guyana Limited, a whollyowned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds 25 percent interest.