FOR the fifth time around, United States oil supermajor Exxon Mobil has made a significant discovery offshore Guyana, less than a month after it began drilling the Turbot -1 well some 50km away from the Liza Phase One project.

Exxon’s affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd. began drilling the Turbot-1 well on Aug 14, 2017 and encountered a reservoir of some 75 feet or 23 meters of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone in the primary objective. The well was safely drilled to 18,445 feet or 5,622 meters in 5,912 feet or 1,802 meters of water on Sept. 29, 2017.
The last discovery comes less than two months after the company reported that it discovered additional oil in the Payara reservoir offshore Guyana, increasing the total Payara discovery to approximately 500 million oil-equivalent barrels back in July of this year. The positive well results increased the estimated gross recoverable resource for the Stabroek Block to between 2.25 billion oil-equivalent barrels and 2.75 billion oil-equivalent barrels.

“The results from this latest well further illustrate the tremendous potential we see from our exploration activities offshore Guyana,” Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Co, said in a news release on Thursday. “ExxonMobil, along with its partners, will continue to further evaluate opportunities on the Stabroek Block.”
Turbot is ExxonMobil’s latest discovery to date in the country, adding to previous discoveries at Liza, Payara, Snoek and Liza Deep. Following completion of the Turbot-1 well, the Stena Carron drillship will move to the Ranger prospect. An additional well on the Turbot discovery is being planned for 2018.
The Stabroek Block is some 6.6 million acres or 26,800 square kilometers. Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds 45 percent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 percent interest and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25 percent interest.
Earlier this year, ExxonMobil and partner Hess made the final investment decision for $4.4 billion first phase development of the Liza field offshore Guyana. SBM Offshore has awarded Keppel Shipyard the contract to convert a very large crude carrier into a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel that will be deployed at the Liza field in the Stabroek block.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Natural Resources in a statement said it joins His Excellency David A. Granger and the Guyanese people in congratulating ExxonMobil and its joint-venture partners Hess and CNOOC Nexen for their latest discovery at the Turbot-1 well in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana. The announcement, following that of the Payara-2 discovery in July 2017, is another important milepost in Guyana’s journey towards becoming an oil producing country, the miistry statement read. “This latest discovery also underscores the need for continued capacity building not only of Government and its agencies but also of the private sector, civil society and individuals to ensure that they contribute to and benefit from the oil and gas sector in an equitable manner.”
According to the ministry it looks forward to the support of all stakeholders as it puts in place a strong regulatory and fiscal framework to ensure that production of petroleum is carried out in a transparent and accountable manner and in a way that is respectful of our environment. “The ministry expresses its appreciation to all our local, regional and international partners working to bring us to the point of readiness for the emerging oil and gas sector and calls on the People of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to embrace this new reality thrusted upon our beautiful country.”