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Petroleum hunt will push estimates to over three billion barrels of oil
– Canadian expert says Guyana/Suriname basin is world’s hottest prospect
A Canadian oil and gas expert who has travelled to Guyana five times in the past year alone believes that Guyana needs help understanding and serving the industry well into the future as the hunt for petroleum could push estimates to over 3 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
Rob Strong, who has helped to streamline Guyana’s Oil and Gas Association as well as other areas of the emerging sector, sounded the call during a recent interview with Canada’s Oil and Gas Magazine (OGM).
According to Strong, Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, has indicated to him that the most recent discovery by US oil giant ExxonMobil off the Guyana coast pushed the declared reserves to around the three billion barrel mark.
“With no proven oil reserves just over two and a half years ago, Guyana now has approximately three billion barrels of recoverable oil and this number is expected to further increase as the hunt for more petroleum intensifies. As well, neighbouring Suriname is expected to be as prolific as Guyana,” Strong told OGM.
He is considered the grandfather of the offshore oil industry in the Canadian Province of Newfoundland and believes Guyana is a new frontier somewhat similar to where they were 40 years ago.
“They [Guyana] need so much help in not only understanding the industry but, more importantly, servicing the industry for the next 20 to 30 years,” Strong told OGM.
Canadian oil and gas expert, Rob Strong
He believes the Guyana/Suriname Basin has to be one of the hottest prospects in the world right now and there are already discussions of a second floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit.
“When you have seven wells and six have penetrated oil-bearing sands, it’s significant.
From discovery in 2015 and first oil in 2020, if that doesn’t excite someone in the oil and gas business, what will?” Strong questioned.
He said with an initial discovery in 2015, followed by a prediction of first oil in 2020 is just the start. Strong called on Canadians to look for opportunities in Guyana.
“In my view, more east coast Canadian companies should be aggressively looking at opportunities in Guyana. Yes, I know it is an underdeveloped country and has its frustrations but when one looks at the “size of the prize”, it has to be worth it,” Strong said.
ExxonMobil, alone, which has struck liquid gold several times off the coast of Guyana, has predicted 2.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil from The Liza Field. It is believed that there have already been several major upward revisions in recoverable resource estimates regarding the Liza Field with plenty of room for upside after ExxonMobil’s successful Liza-4 well and future development plans for the Liza 2 project being considered.
In early October, Exxon announced that its Turbot-1 exploration well had “encountered a reservoir of 75 feet (23 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone. This was its fifth discovery in Guyana.
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