ExxonMobil reveals yet another sIGNIfiCANt OIL DIsCOvERy
ExxonMobil has made yet another significant discovery of high quality oil offshore Guyana. The company announced Thursday that it had made a fifth new oil discovery after drilling the Turbot-1 well offshore Guyana. Turbo-1 is ExxonMobil’s latest discovery to date adding to previous discoveries at Liza, Payara, Snoek and Liza Deep. Following completion of the Turbot-1 well, the Stena Carron drillship will move to the Ranger prospect. ExxonMobil said that its affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd, began drilling the Turbot-1 well on August 14, this year and encountered a reservoir of 75 feet (23 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone in the primary objective. The well was safely drilled to 18,445 feet (5,622 meters) in 5,912 feet (1,802 meters) of water on September 29, 2017. The Turbot-1 well is located in the southeastern portion of the Stabroek Block, approximately 30 miles (50 kilometers) to the southeast of the Liza phase one project. “The results from this latest well further illustrate the tremendous potential we see from our exploration activities offshore Guyana,” said Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company. “ExxonMobil, along with its partners, will continue to further evaluate opportunities on the Stabroek Block.” The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers). Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is 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. Thursday, ExxonMobil’s Senior Director of Public and Government Affairs, Kimberly Brasington, said that the company will not be able to know the real size of the resource until another well is drilled in 2018. That well will be Turbo-2 and will be drilling in close proximity to Turbo-1. “Only then will we have a number to go with,” said Brasington. Brasington said, “The announcement says 75 feet of high quality oil-bearing sandstones and that literally means that we have drilled through 75 feet of the sand rock and 75 feet shows oil…So our best estimate of this find is that there is 75 feet of oil.”
Brasington continued, “When we drilled the first well at Liza-1, we knew there was oil. We made an announcement that oil is there but we had no idea how much was there until we came back and drilled the second one. “What we did, we picked another location further away and it helped us; it gave an idea of how big is the reservoir. It is so hard to make that estimate on one well. We do not have enough data.” However, Brasington said that the oil at 75 feet is quite “significant. If we had found 12 or a smaller number it would give a different message but the fact that it is 75 ft, it is significant enough to warrant us coming back and drilling a different well to get more information. “So after we drill Turbo-2 next year we will be in a much better place to figure out how many barrels are in this.”
(Kaieteurnews.com)