Offshore staff
IRVING, Texas – ExxonMobil and its partners have made an oil discovery at Whiptail on the Stabroek block offshore Guyana.
The Whiptail-1 well encountered 246 ft (75 m) of net pay in high quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs. Drilling is also ongoing at the Whiptail-2 well, which has encountered 167 ft (51 m) of net pay in high quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs. Drilling continues at both wells to test deeper targets, and results will be evaluated for future development.
The Whiptail discovery is about 4 mi (6 km) southeast of the Uaru-1 discovery and approximately 3 mi (5 km) west of the Yellowtail field. Whiptail-1 is being drilled in 5,889 ft (1,795 m) of water by the drillship Stena DrillMAX.
Whiptail-2, which is 3 mi northeast of Whiptail-1, is currently being drilled in 6,217 ft (1,895 m) of water by the drillship Noble Don Taylor.
Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil, said: “This discovery increases our confidence in the resource size and quality in the southeast area of the Stabroek block and could form the basis for a future development as we continue to evaluate the best sequence of development opportunities within the block.”
ExxonMobil envisions at least six projects online by 2027 and sees potential for up to 10 projects to develop its current recoverable resource base of about 9 Bboe.
The FPSO vessel Liza Destiny is currently producing about 120,000 b/d of oil.
The startup of Liza Phase 2 remains on target for early 2022. The FPSO Liza Unity is expected to sail from Singapore to Guyana in late August 2021. The Liza Unity has a production capacity of about 220,000 b/d of oil.
The hull for the FPSO Prosperity is complete, and topsides construction activities are ongoing in Singapore. Startup is targeted for 2024. The first Payara development well was spudded in June 2021, and the offshore SURF installation is expected to begin in 3Q 2021.
Yellowtail has been identified as the fourth development project in the Stabroek block, with anticipated startup in 2025. Following necessary government approvals and a final investment decision, this project will develop the Yellowtail and Redtail fields, which are located about 19 mi (30 km) southeast of the Liza developments, and potentially adjacent resources.
These new projects continue to contribute to the advancement of the Guyanese economy, the company said. More than 2,600 Guyanese are now supporting project activities on and offshore, which reflects an increase of more than 20% since the end of 2019. ExxonMobil and its contractors have spent about $388 million with more than 800 local companies since 2015.
ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd. is the operator and holds 45% interest in the Stabroek block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30% interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Ltd. holds 25% interest.
07/28/2021
