– Longtail to target non-associated gas
–          Company submits environmental authorisation for Longtail’s gas development, finalises Hammerhead plans

EXXONMOBIL has taken another major step forward in its ongoing development of Guyana’s offshore oil resources by submitting an Environmental Authorisation (EA) application to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its eighth project Longtail in the Stabroek Block.
During a press conference at the company’s Georgetown headquarters on Wednesday, the company’s Guyana president Alistair Routledge said that this move signals the company’s commitment to expanding its operations in the region and tapping into non-associated gas resources.
The Long Tail project is particularly noteworthy as it represents ExxonMobil’s first major foray into developing Guyana’s non-associated gas resources, which is produced from a well in conventional gas fields that do not produce crude oil.

“We have just submitted the Environmental Authorisation Application for the eighth project – the Longtail Project – which will start us into developing what is known as the non-associated gas resources. Longtail comes with a good amount of liquids,” he said.
While this project is “a little bit earlier in the process of being finalised,” Routledge explained that it is expected to be a major undertaking that it could potentially produce up to 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) of liquids and is set to handle over 1 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) of gas, marking a significant shift towards gas development in the area.
ExxonMobil’s continued investment in Guyana’s offshore resources has already yielded impressive results as it recently surpassed 500 million barrels of cumulative production in less than five years since first oil, with current production capacity standing at around 650,000 bpd which will be ramped up to 900,000 once
Against this backdrop, Routledge said that early appraisal work gives the US oil giant that “comfort” that there were reservoirs with sufficient fluids for a “cost competitive” project which they anticipate being a Field Development Plan (FDP) forward.

Longtail-1 discovery in the Stabroek Block was drilled in 2018, encountering approximately 256 feet (78 metres) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir.
Drilling at Longtail-3 in June 2021 revealed 230 feet (70 meters) of net pay, including newly identified hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs below the original intervals.
Whiptail comes onstream with a potential start-up date for production is being considered around 2030.

However, this latest development in the Stabroek Block comes on the heels of ExxonMobil’s submission of the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to the EPA for its seventh project – Hammerhead earlier this week.
Public notices for consultation sessions are expected to be published this weekend, inviting stakeholders to review the studies and EIA outcomes.
The Hammerhead project is anticipated to have a production capacity ranging from 130,000 to 180,000 bpd utilising the gas resources at the Stabroek Block, which has an estimated 17 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
ExxonMobil plans to finalise these figures and include the target production in its Field Development Plan (FDP), which is slated for submission to government in March 2025.

Speculating, Routledge said that the Hammerhead project could be sanctioned around mid-2025, continuing the steady stream of investments in Guyana’s offshore oil sector when it comes online in 2029.
Up to 30 wells will be drilled for this project. It will utilise a converted floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO), which will be smaller but efficient for developing this resource
ExxonMobil, through its local subsidiary, operates the Stabroek Block with a 45 per-cent stake, while Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd holds 30 per-cent, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds the remaining 25 per-cent.
Currently, three Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels—Liza Destiny, Liza Unity, and Prosperity—are in operation within the Stabroek Block, supporting production from the Liza Phases One and Two and Payara developments.
Together, these projects produce over 600,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) offshore Guyana and will be ramped up with more FPSO on the way.