GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Dec 23, CMC – The US-based oil giant, ExxonMobil, Monday said it had made an oil discovery offshore Guyana at the Mako-1 well southeast of the Liza field, marking the 15th discovery on the Stabroek Block.
It said the discovery adds to the previously announced estimated recoverable resource of more than 6 billion oil-equivalent barrels on the Stabroek Block.
“This discovery by ExxonMobil and its partners comes on the heels of the start of oil production. The Cooperative Republic of Guyana is experiencing a truly historic moment that has all the ingredients to facilitate a paradigm shift towards sustained economic transformation,” said the head of the Department of Energy, Dr. Mark Bynoe.
“The government of the Cooperative Republic Guyana will continue to conscientiously and assiduously to ensure that petroleum revenues benefit all Guyanese through the ‘Decade of Development’ 2020-2029. “The Department of Energy will continue to be at the vanguard of this effort through, inter alia, strengthening its capacity and building out the legislative framework to allow for effective and efficient management of Guyana’s hydrocarbon resources and enhanced value retention,” he added.
ExxonMobil said Mako-1 encountered approximately 164 feet of a high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir. Mako-1, drilled in 5,315 feet of water, is located approximately six miles southeast of the Liza field, which began producing oil in December 2019.
“New discoveries in this world-class basin have the potential to support additional developments,” said Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil.
“Our proprietary full-wave seismic inversion technology continues to help us better define our discovered resource and move rapidly to the development phase,” Cousins added.
The Liza Phase 1 development achieved first oil on December 20, this year and will produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day utilizing the Liza Destiny floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO).
The Liza Unity FPSO, which will be employed for the second phase of Liza development and will have a production capacity of 220,000 barrels of oil per day, is under construction and expected to start production by mid-2022.
ExxonMobil said pending government approvals and project sanctioning of a third development, production from the Payara field north of the Liza discoveries could start as early as 2023, reaching an estimated 220,000 barrels of oil per day.
It said drilling activities in Guyana continue with four drillships to further explore and appraise new resources as well as develop the resources within approved projects.
The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres. ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds 45 per cent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 per cent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds 25 per cent interest. – CMC
