Latest update February 9th, 2025 1:59 PM
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ExxonMobil to drill 52 more exploration wells in 5 years
…nation still in the dark on prior, current costs per well
Kaieteur News – Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL)—ExxonMobil’s subsidiary—will by the end of 2025 spud some 52 wells across the Stabroek and Canje Blocks in a five year period, having begun an aggressive campaign in late December 2020.
The Stena DrillMAX drill ship—one of the vessels currently being used by EEGPL for its exploration programme offshore Guyana
According to the schedule of exploration activities for the company for the Stabroek Block, the company is currently engaged in an aggressive 25 well exploration campaign that begun back in June of this year.
That drilling campaign is expected to last until the end of 2025.
This is in addition to a separate 12 well campaign that had begun back in December 2020 in the Stabroek Block and ended earlier this year.
Furthermore, the company is currently engaged in a three-well campaign in the Canje Block that is expected to conclude this month.
Additionally, EEPGL is currently awaiting permission for another 12 well campaign in the Canje Block.
That five-year campaign is also expected to be concluded in February 2025.
It would mean that between December 2020 and December 2025, the company would have spud or plans to spud some 52 wells.
This is in addition to the drilling of the development wells in the Liza I & II fields.
EEPGL currently has six drill ships operating offshore, the Stena Carron, the Stena DrillMAX, the Noble Bob Douglas, the Noble Tom Madden, the Noble Don Taylor and the Noble Sam Croft.
The cost for and oversight of the exploration wells by oil companies have been a bone of public contention for years given the fact that the expenditure is recovered from cost oil in any of the producing fields in the contract area.
This past week Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, in welcoming the most recent discovery offshore Guyana at the Pinktail well had promised increased oversight with regards the oil operators’ exploration programmes.
Minister Bharrat had stated in a public missive that “the Government of Guyana has mandated the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Petroleum Sector regulatory agencies to enhance the oversight and management of the exploration programmes of all operators as we seek to further expand the sector through advancing commercial discoveries.”
According to the subject Minister, while Government welcomes these new discoveries offshore Guyana, it “remains committed to the sustainable exploration and development of Guyana’s oil and gas resources.”
In this same vein, the Minister said, “I would like to reassure all Guyanese and stakeholders that this will be undertaken in keeping with international best practices for compliance and transparency within the petroleum sector and to ensure benefits are derived for all Guyanese.”
EEPGL has to date seen some 23 successful discoveries offshore Guyana the first being announced in May 2015 and the most recent on Thursday.
This publication understands that EEGPL prior to 2020 would have spudded some 80 wells but to date the nation remains in the dark as to the cost of any of the wells previously or the ones recently scheduled.
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