—Exxon’s President highlights major impact of 30-year- lifespan project

EXXONMOBIL’S Longtail oil development is set to mark a new chapter in Guyana’s energy and economic transformation, as the project is being designed to, in three decades, deliver premium condensate and sustained gas, President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge has stated.

The Exxon boss made these remarks during a recent episode of ‘Starting Point’ as he highlighted how the oil and gas developments are anchoring Guyana’s rise in the global energy market.

“Longtail will be a premium,” Routledge declared, describing the project as a benchmark for next-generation deepwater resource management — one that prioritises reinjection, efficiency, and longevity.

ExxonMobil’s other four offshore developments- Liza Phase 1, Liza Phase 2, Payara and Yellowtail with approval already obtained for its fifth project – Uaru to come onstream in 2026, sixth – Whiptail in 2027, and seventh project – Hammerhead in 2029, produce what he labeled as “black crude.”

But Longtail, which is currently being considered, 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.

The Longtail 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.

He said, “Gas fields typically take longer to produce the resource, particularly when they have these levels of liquids, because you really want to recycle the gas as much as possible in order to lift that condensate, you essentially dissolve the condensate into the dryer gas as you cycle it back through and as we all know, liquids are very valuable.

“We’ve just been talking about the premium of the condensate from Longtail versus the black oil fields and so we want to extract as much as possible to maximize the value of the resource that comes out as the long tail reservoirs for the country.

“So it will likely be around 15 years that we’re taking around about 1.2 billion cubic feet a day of gas. Now that’s the same as all the first four projects are currently producing by way of gas.”

The company also plans to integrate Longtail with other assets within the Stabroek Block and the Gas-to-Energy pipeline, to enable flexible gas utilisation once a domestic and regional market is established.

“Insofar as there is gas available and there is a gas market, we can feed Longtail gas into that as well,” Routledge explained.

“Larger volumes of gas going to market will likely come 15 years into the operation’s life, with additional years required to produce that gas and the remaining condensate through to the end of field life — hence the longer operational lifespan.”

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 metres) of net pay, including newly identified hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs below the original intervals.

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.