New ‘Fangtooth’ oil find has potential to ‘underpin future oil development’ – Hess Corp.

United States oil giant Hess Corporation on Wednesday announced that another oil find was recorded in the prolific Stabroek Block offshore Guyana.

That “significant new oil discovery” was from the Fangtooth SE-1 well. Hess said approximately 200 feet of oil bearing sandstone reservoirs was found. It adds to the estimate of more than 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent in the Stabroek block, though further appraisal activities are underway.

ExxonMobil, the operator of the Block is expected to confirm the find on Friday.

Hess contended that the new oil find “has the potential to underpin a future oil development on the Stabroek Block”.

What that means is that the Fangtooth area could become a new oil production field in the Stabroek Block like the Liza Phase 1 and Liza Phase 2, where the combined production of at least 360,000 barrels of oil per day is ongoing.

Hess is a co-venturer with a 30 per cent stake in the Stabroek Block. Esso Exploration Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), ExxonMobil’s local subsidiary, is the operator in the block, and has a 45% stake. The other partner is China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

Beyond Liza Phase 1 and Liza Phase 2, production is expected to start at the Payara development in the Stabroek Block by the end of this year. Future production fields include Yellowtail and Uaru.

Aside from this new discovery, Hess reported significant earnings in the fourth quarter of 2022- a large sharing drawn from the production in Guyana.

And earlier this week, the company said it would increase spending on capital projects this year by US$1 billion, to US$3.7 billion, mostly for its Guyana’s and North Dakota’s Bakken shale field projects.