– exploration currently underway, more planned into next year
EMGL VP Phillip Rietema
ExxonMobil Guyana’s Vice President and Business Services Manager, Phillip Rietema, has assured that the company is incentivized to fully boost its search for oil in the Stabroek Block. He has made it clear that the company has exploration wells planned for this year and beyond.
During a recent engagement with the media, Rietema spoke of the company’s exploration programme while assuring that the oil giant is committed to its exploration programme.
According to him, exploration wells are already underway, and more are planned for later this year into the new year.
“We are committed to fully exploring the extent of the Stabroek Block and discovering all profitable resources. The contract for the Stabroek Block agreement incentivizes us to do that, and we continue to invest in exploration wells. We have some underway right now as we speak, and we have further exploration wells planned into the next year,” Rietema said.
The Exxon Vice President also revealed that the company had five unsuccessful wells dug last year. The exploration cost for last year, $55.4 billion, is a significant increase compared to what has obtained in 2022: $8.7 billion.
The map showing Trumpetfish and Redmouth well sites in the Stabroek block
“All information we receive from drilling exploration wells informs our view of the prospectivity of the block. And when we are making decisions around future investments, we of course take into account the prior results. And so, absolutely! If we have a dry hole, we take that information that comes with additional information, and that informs our future investment and future exploration activities,” he explained.
“The exploration costs reflect the dry wells. We are exploring a wide extent of the block, and the wells drilled and called as dry in 2023 were in different parts of the block. I wouldn’t say that they’re concentrated in one particular area,” Rietema further explained to the media.
Exxon had previously said the intention is to drill and appraise at least seven new wells within the Stabroek Block in 2024. Those would include two within the western boundaries of the oil field, named the Trumpetfish and the Redmouth.
Five of the wells are expected to guide the company in assessing the quantity and usability of the natural gas reserve in the Stabroek Block, particularly those in the eastern portion. If the wells lead to commercially viable resources, the company could drill additional wells in the area.
ExxonMobil, through its local subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), has a majority 45 per cent interest in the Stabroek Block, and is the operator. Hess Corporation holds a 30 per cent interest, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds the remaining 25 per cent interest.
However, Hess Corporation has agreed to merge with Chevron, and while this transaction was initially expected to be closed in the first half of this year, it is likely to be delayed after Exxon filed arbitration proceedings to claim pre-emptive rights in the offshore Guyana operations.
ExxonMobil, along with its co-venturers, commenced production activities in the Stabroek Block in December 2019. Currently, production has been ramped up to over 600,000 barrels of oil per day at the Liza Phases One and Two, as well as the Payara projects, all of which account for the three floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels operating in Guyana’s waters offshore.
The current production figures would be further buttressed by the Yellowtail and Uaru developments, which are already underway and are each anticipated to contribute 250,000 barrels of oil following their respective start-ups in 2025 and 2026.
An application for the sixth development, the Whiptail Project, was submitted by the Stabroek Block operator to the Guyana Government last year, and has already received the necessary approvals, with Exxon making its Final Investment Decision (FID) in April. This project will see Guyana producing just over 1.2 million barrels of oil per day by 2027.
In addition to these six projects offshore Guyana, which Exxon anticipates would be online by 2027, the possibility of having 10 FPSOs operational by 2030 is also being eyed. (Jarryl Bryan)
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