–Gov’t says discovery will stimulate monumental transformation
EXXONMOBIL Guyana has struck big yet again at the 6.6 million acres Stabroek Block offshore Guyana, discovering high-quality hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone reservoirs at the Pinktail well.

In a press statement on Thursday, the company confirmed that its Pinktail well encountered 220 feet (67 meters) of net pay in high quality hydrocarbon- bearing sandstone reservoirs.

‘Pay’, according to Schlumberger, is a reservoir or portion of a reservoir that contains economically producible hydrocarbons.

The overall interval in which pay sections occur is the gross pay, while the smaller portions of the gross pay that meet local criteria for pay such as minimum porosity, permeability and hydrocarbon saturation, are net pay.

In addition to the Pinktail well, the company announced that the Turbot-2 well encountered 43 feet (13 meters) of net pay in a newly identified, high quality hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone reservoir separate from the 75 feet (23 meters) of high quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir pay encountered in the original Turbot-1 discovery well.

ExxonMobil related: “This follows the additional pay in deeper reservoirs encountered at the previously announced Whiptail discovery… these results will be incorporated into future developments.”

The Ministry of Natural Resources, on behalf of the Government of Guyana, said that it welcomed the newest oil discovery by Exxon Exploration and Production Guyana (EEPGL) and partners, and expressed confidence that the additional discoveries will serve to further stimulate Guyana’s monumental transition as a country with world-class discoveries of high-quality hydrocarbon.

“As such, the Government of Guyana remains committed and persistent in engaging all stakeholders towards the beneficial development of these resources for all Guyanese, in a sustainable and responsible manner,” Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, was quoted as saying in the statement.

He said that resultantly, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government has mandated the Ministry of Natural Resources and the petroleum sector regulatory agencies to enhance the oversight and management of the exploration programmes of all operators as they seek to further expand the sector through advancing commercial discoveries.

The new discovery will see Guyana’s oil resources surpassing well over the estimated nine billion oil-equivalent barrels.

It was only in June that the oil giant announced its 20th oil find offshore Guyana, which was made at its Longtail-3 site, also in the Stabroek Block.

At that time, Mike Cousins, Senior Vice-President of Exploration and New Ventures at ExxonMobil had said: “The discovery at Longtail-3, combined with our recent discovery at Uaru-2, has the potential to increase our resource estimate within the Stabroek block, demonstrating further growth of this world-class resource and our high-potential development opportunities offshore Guyana.”

He added: “We will continue to leverage our core competitive advantages in our ongoing exploration campaign, delivering substantial value to the Guyanese people, our partners and shareholders.”

The new find at Pinktail is also good news for Guyana’s Natural Resources Fund (NRF), which currently stands at an untouched sum of US$436 million, gained from seven oil lifts and royalties.

It was only last month that Guyana received payment for its seventh oil lift, to the tune of US$79,617,561.87, the largest single oil payment the country has received to date. The seventh oil lift brings the country’s oil extractions to a grand total of 7,056,262 barrels.

Guyana sold its first one million barrels of crude on February 19, 2020, raking in nearly US$55 million. In its second million-barrel sale, the country received US$35 million, and another US$46 million as proceeds from the sale of its third million-barrel of crude, and US$49.3 million from its fourth oil lift.

In early March, Guyana also benefitted directly from its petroleum sector, receiving US$61,090,968 (approximately G$13 billion) from the sale of the nation’s fifth oil lift. Further, it earned in excess of US$60 million from the sale of its sixth oil lift, and received US$13.9 million in royalties during the first quarter of this year.

It was reported in May that the country’s total revenue is expected to increase by 17 per cent, with earnings in the petroleum sector alone reaching well over US$500 million by the end of this year.