EXXONMOBIL’S ‘Skip Jack’ well has proven not to have commercial quantities of hydrocarbons, a statement from the Ministry of Natural Resources said on Thursday. “The Ministry of Natural Resources was informed by ExxonMobil and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) on August 29, 2016, that the ‘Skip Jack’ well has proved not to have commercial quantities of hydrocarbons. We are continuing to have verification work done and awaiting a full report and more information will be provided then, the statement said.
The ministry said the oil giant’s announcement has reminded it of the “undulating fortunes of mining in general and of oil exploration in particular.”
According to the statement, ExxonMobil will continue with its plans to develop the Liza Well with its declared capacity of approximately one Billion barrels of oil and look for possible targets for drilling.
“Likewise, the Government continues its preparations for the eventual production of oil and gas in the near future by building capacity at the legislative, technical and regulatory levels,” the statement added.
ExxonMobil spudded the ‘Skip Jack’ exploration well offshore Guyana, some 40km north-west of the deep-water Liza well.
ExxonMobil had announced at the end of June that its Liza well offshore Guyana contains hydrocarbon reserves in the range of 800M to 1.4 B equivalent barrels of crude oil and described it as a “world-class discovery”
“We are excited by the results of a production test of the Liza-2 well, which confirms the presence of high-quality oil from the same high-porosity sandstone reservoirs that we saw in the Liza-1 well completed in 2015,” said Steve Greenlee, President of ExxonMobil Exploration Company.
The Liza wells are located in the Stabroek Bloc approximately 120miles (193 kilometres) offshore Guyana. Data from the successful Liza-2 well test is being assessed. According to the release, the Liza-2 well was drilled by ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, approximately two miles (3.3 km) from the Liza-1 well.
The Liza-2 well encountered more than 190 feet (58 metres) of oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs in Upper Cretaceous formations. The well was drilled to 17,963 feet (5,475 metres) in 5,551 feet (1,692 metres) of water.
The Stabroek block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres). Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds 45 per cent interest in the Stabroek block. Hess Guyana Exploration Limited holds 30 per cent interest and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25 per cent interest.