…makes 10th oil discovery at Pluma-1 well
…pushes Guyana figure to 750,000 barrels of oil daily by 2025

UNITED States oil giant ExxonMobil announced on Monday that it has made its 10th discovery offshore Guyana and increased its estimate of the discovered recoverable resource for the Stabroek Block to more than five billion oil-equivalent barrels.

The resource estimate, up from the previous estimate of more than 4 billion oil-equivalent barrels, is a result of further evaluation of previous discoveries and includes a new discovery at the Pluma-1 well, the company said in a statement. “The discovery of a resource base of more than 5 billion oil-equivalent barrels in less than four years is a testament of our technical expertise and rigorous evaluation and pursuit of high-potential, high-risk opportunities in this frontier area,” said Neil Chapman, ExxonMobil senior vice president. “We will continue to apply what we’ve learned to identify additional exploration prospects and potential future discoveries that will deliver significant value to Guyanese people, our partners and shareholders.”

The Pluma-1 well encountered approximately 121 feet (37 metres) of high-quality hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone reservoir. Pluma-1 reached a depth of 16,447 feet (5,013 metres) in 3,340 feet (1,018 metres) of water. The Noble Tom Madden drillship began drilling on Nov. 1. The well is located approximately 17 miles (27 kilometres) south of the Turbot-1 well. The Noble Tom Madden will next drill the Tilapia-1 prospect located 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometres) west of the Longtail-1 well. “Together with the Government and people of Guyana, we are continuing to grow the value of the Stabroek Block for Guyana, our partners and ExxonMobil with successful exploration investments,” said Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company. “Our ongoing work will evaluate development options in the southeastern portion of the block, potentially combining Pluma with prior Turbot and Longtail discoveries into a major new development area.”

The Liza Phase 1 development is expected to begin producing up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day by early 2020, utilising the Liza Destiny floating storage, production and offloading vessel (FPSO). As previously announced, Liza Phase 2 is expected to start up by mid-2022. Pending government and regulatory approvals, Liza Phase 2 project sanction is expected in early 2019 and will use a second FPSO designed to produce up to 220,000 barrels per day. Sanctioning of a third development, Payara, is also expected in 2019 with start up as early as 2023.

The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres). ExxonMobil’s affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, is the operator and holds 45 per cent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 per cent interest and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25 per cent interest.

Meanwhile, Director of the Department of Energy, Dr. Mark Bynoe in an invited comment said: “This is great news for Guyana…the country is on the cusp of transformational development for current and future generations, and the news of ExxonMobil’s 10th discovery offshore Guyana is expected to facilitate the country’s realisation of substantial social and economic improvements.

“Guyana is well poised to truly forge ahead in the 21st century. As a petro-development state we will, however, need to strategically invest in a people-centred and balanced manner, where we utilise our non-renewable resources for structural transformation and improving people’s lives in the short-term, while concomitantly providing the foundation to allow us to transition in the medium and long-term to a post-carbon economy. The previous recoverable resource estimate on the Stabroek Block was more than 4 billion barrels. This discovery reinforces the potential of the country being able to produce more than 750,000 barrels of oil daily by 2025, and the potential for development in the southeast section of the Stabroek Block. The Stabroek Block is 26, 800 square kilometres,” Dr. Bynoe added.

The Noble Tom Madden is expected to begin drilling the Tilapia-1 prospect located some 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometres) west of the Longtail-1 well. The Stena Carron drillship has recently completed operations at Hammerhead-1 and will soon drill its next well following scheduled maintenance.

In his recent budget presentation, Finance Minister Winston Jordan had said that the discovery of very significant oil reserves has put Guyana at a critical point in its history, “providing us with the opportunity to shift our development path, modernise our economy and transform the lives of our citizens. We are poised for rapid economic expansion, and our government is committed to pursuing economic and social policies conducive to equitable, sustainable and environmentally-friendly growth.”

Jordan noted that the government has embarked on a number of initiatives to ensure that “we do not squander these resources.” He told the House that the administration has already completed a Green Paper on the management of the revenues from petroleum, and that a Natural Resource Fund Bill was introduced in the National Assembly to assure equitable distribution of national wealth across generations, among other objectives. “Mr. Speaker, these new resources provide a momentous occasion for us to turn potential to prosperity. We intend to take advantage of this and will ramp up spending on infrastructure such as roads, bridges, airstrips, energy and telecommunications, in order to improve and induce domestic and foreign investment, which is critical to our growth and development prospects. Increased expenditure on education and healthcare is also projected, so as to ensure qualitative and quantitative enhancement of our human capital – our country‘s most valuable asset. Further, through appropriate policy measures, we will ensure that the appreciable economic growth that is expected is felt at all levels, especially among disadvantaged, vulnerable and underprivileged groups and communities,” Jordan said.

He said thaty in order to capture the full benefit of our new-found wealth, “we must chart a course of development that is diversified, inclusive and sustainable. This is why we have embarked on the development of the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS), a comprehensive document of strategic actions, policies, projects and programmes to guide our development trajectory over the next 20 years. The objective is broader than Guyana‘s past development strategies and captures a more holistic view of social, economic and environmental well-being, which is in line with the United Nation‘s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In particular, the Strategy aims to foster sustained economic growth that is low-carbon and climate-resilient, as well as promote social cohesion, good governance and careful management of our finite natural resources.”