Govt. orders all regulatory agencies to expedite oil companies’ drilling programmes

Oct 27, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – ExxonMobil Corporation’s affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) disclosed yesterday that two discoveries were recorded at the Sailfin-1 and Yarrow-1 wells in the Stabroek block, adding to its already extensive portfolio of development opportunities.

Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat

EEPGL said the Sailfin-1 well encountered approximately 312 feet (95 meters) of hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone and was drilled in 4,616 feet (1,407 meters) of water. As for the Yarrow-1 well, it encountered approximately 75 feet (23 meters) of hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone and was drilled in 3,560 feet (1,085 meters) of water. Both wells were drilled by the Stena Carron drillship.

Following the announcement, Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat stated that government welcomes the latest discoveries. He added however that all petroleum sector regulatory agencies were mandated to enhance collaboration with all other operators to expedite their drill programmes. Bharrat said this decision was taken to further expand the sector through the discoveries of recoverable high-quality hydrocarbon. Additionally, Minister Bharrat said the much-anticipated bidding round for the oil blocks offshore Guyana is expected to bring new and emerging major petroleum companies to further increase Guyana’s oil and gas potentials, said Minister Bharrat.

Currently, the first two offshore projects, Liza Phase One and Liza Phase Two, are now producing above design capacity and achieved an average of nearly 360,000 barrels of oil per day in the third quarter. A third project, Payara, is expected to start up by the end of 2023, and a fourth project, Yellowtail, is expected to start up in 2025. Further, ExxonMobil is also pursuing environmental authorization for a fifth project, Uaru. By the end of the decade, ExxonMobil expects Guyana’s oil production capacity to be more than one million barrels a day.

The Government of Guyana said it remains committed to the sustainable exploration and development of Guyana’s oil and gas resources in keeping with international best practices for production, compliance, and transparency within the petroleum sector, and to ensure benefits are derived for all Guyanese.

In the meantime, Liam Mallon, president of ExxonMobil Upstream Company commented that the oil giant’s unrivaled exploration success and accelerated pace of development in Guyana are a testament to its people, decades of experience, technology capabilities and steadfast focus on optimizing all aspects of operations. Mallon said, “We are committed to responsibly and safely developing this world-class resource to help meet global demand for secure, reliable and lower-emission energy. Our investments through the pandemic have allowed us to increase supply at this critical time, while creating value for the people of Guyana, our partners and shareholders.”

Guyana’s Stabroek block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers). ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is the operator and holds 45% interest in the block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30% interest, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25% interest.

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