Exxon Mobil, Hess find oil off Guyana
Exxon Mobil Corp. and Hess Corp. said Wednesday that they have made a seventh oil discovery in the developing offshore fields of Guyana in northeastern South America.
The find at the new Pacora-1 exploration is another expansion of the oil development off the coast of the Latin American country, which is immediately east of Venezuela, where political and economic instability have led to declining crude production there.
Exxon Mobil has battled in court with Venezuela over compensation issues for years and is now backing Guyana in its legal disputes with Venezuela over their borders.
Exxon Mobil, headquartered in Irving, and Hess, of New York, said they struck oil in a well drilled more than 18,000 feet at a depth of nearly 7,000 feet. The discovery is about 4 miles west of its Payara-1 well and follows recent discoveries
on the offshore Stabroek block in the Liza, Payara, Liza Deep, Snoek, Turbot and Ranger fields. The oil companies found crude in the Ranger field in January.
The companies said they expect to start consistently producing oil from some of these discoveries no later than 2020.
"This latest discovery further increases our confidence in developing this key area of the Stabroek Block," said Steve Greenlee, president of Exxon Mobil. "Pacora will be developed in conjunction with the giant Payara field and, along with other phases, will help bring Guyana production to more than 500,000 barrels per day."
Exxon Mobil and Hess join several other of the world’s largest oil companies to recently announced major offshore discoveries as rising crude prices and lower development costs begin to revive the struggling offshore sector. Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and France’s Total revealed their discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico and North Sea within a 24-hour period at the end of January.
Exxon Mobil and Hess said they will next drill more test wells in the Liza field. It's the first area expected to be fully developed.
Exxon Mobil is the main operator of the development, owning 45 percent of the project. Hess owns 30 percent, while the China National Offshore Oil Corp. holds a 25 percent stake.