Exxon Mobil Wednesday said its latest oil discovery will take oil production to 500, 000 barrels a day.
This is Exxon’s seventh oil discovery offshore Guyana, following drilling at the Pacora-1 exploration well.
“This latest discovery further increases our confidence in developing this key area of the Stabroek Block,” said Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company, in a statement.
He added: “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.”
In a statement, the company said it encountered approximately 65 feet (20 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir.
The Pacora-1 well is located approximately four miles west of the Payara-1 well, and follows previous discoveries on the Stabroek Block at Liza, Payara, Liza Deep, Snoek, Turbot and Ranger.
Following completion of the Pacora-1 well, the Stena Carron drillship will move to the Liza field to drill the Liza-5 well and complete a well test, which will be used to assess concepts for the Payara development, the company stated.
ExxonMobil announced project sanctioning for the Liza phase one development in June 2017.
Following Liza-5, the Stena Carron will conduct additional exploration and appraisal drilling on the block.
In a video statement Tuesday night, Raphael Trotman, the Minister of Natural Resources said the latest discovery was good news for Guyana.
“We so far have an excellent record and I would like to congratulate the crew of the Stena Carron which has been the ship that has done ninety percent of the discoveries without a day lost or any injury or any man-hours lost and that is commendable and, of course, it has been done in a very efficient way,” Trotman said in the video released by the Department of Public Information.
The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers). 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 Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25 percent interest.
