ExxonMobil announced that it made a new oil discovery offshore Guyana at the Yellowtail-1 well, marking the 13th discovery on the Stabroek Block. The discovery complements the previously announced estimated recoverable resource of approximately 5.5 billion oil-equivalent barrels on the Stabroek Block. Yellowtail-1 is the fifth discovery in the Turbot area.
Yellowtail-1 experienced about 292 feet (89 meters) of high-quality oil bearing sandstone reservoir and was drilled to a depth of 18,445 feet (5,622 meters) in 6,046 feet (1,843 meters) of water. The well is located around 6 miles (10 kilometers) northwest of the Tilapia discovery. The Noble Tom Madden started drilling the Yellowtail well on March 27. It will next drill the Hammerhead-2 well.
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Exploration and development activities resume at other locations on the Stabroek Block. The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers). The Stena Carron is now completing a well test at the Longtail-1 discovery and after completion will drill the Hammerhead-3 well.
Later in 2019, the Stena Carron will drill another well at the Ranger discovery. The Noble Bob Douglas drillship is currently finishing development drilling operations for the Liza Phase 1 development. ExxonMobil is also evaluating plans to add another exploration drillship, increasing the number of drillships off Guyana to four.
ExxonMobil believes that there is potential for at least five floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels on the Stabroek Block, able to produce over 750,000 barrels of oil per day by 2025. Startup of the Liza Phase 1 development is planned begin by the first quarter of 2020 and will produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day using the Liza Destiny FPSO, which is expected to arrive in country during the third quarter.
Liza Phase 2 is also expected to start operations by mid-2022, as a final investment decision is expected soon. Once approved, the project will use the Liza Unity FPSO to produce up to 220,000 barrels per day.
Sanctioning of a third development, Payara is also expected to arrive in 2019, with startup expected during 2023.
Mike Cousins, senior vice president of ExxonMobil Exploration and New Ventures, said:
Similar to the Liza area, successive discoveries in the Turbot area have continuously grown its shared value. Our success here can be attributed to our industry-leading upstream capabilities, the strength of our partnerships and our ongoing commitment to growing Guyana’s offshore potential
