ExxonMobil goes to EPA for 6th oil project approval

Jan 16, 2023 News

– while 5^th still pending

Kaieteur News – US oil major ExxonMobil has commenced the application process seeking environmental permission for its sixth oil project in the offshore Stabroek Block. The company has submitted an application to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the Whiptail development which was announced in July of 2021.

Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, Liza Destiny

EPA’s Chief Executive Officer, Khemraj Parsram confirmed that the oil company had submitted its application for the offshore project, but said they would also need to do an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). “They did submit an application for Whiptail and we requested an EIA. We communicated that to them and they have to publish same and do the necessary,” Parsram said.

The Environmental Impact Assessment will be done to provide information on the various effects the project may have on the environment including, air quality, water quality, waste management and overall impact on marine life. The project will also include development wells including production, water injection wells, the installation and operation of Subsea, Umbilicals, Risers, and Flowlines equipment, installation and the operation of a Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessel as well as a decommissioning process.

The Whiptail discovery is located approximately 4 miles southeast of the Uaru-1 discovery and approximately 3 miles west of the Yellowtail field. Whiptail-1 was drilled at depths of 5,889 feet (1,795 meters) of water by the Stena DrillMAX. Whiptail-2, which is located 3 miles northeast of Whiptail-1, was drilled in 6,217 feet (1,895 meters) of water by the Noble Don Taylor.

ExxonMobil had said in 2021 that the Whiptail-1 well encountered 246 feet (75 meters) of net pay in high quality oil bearing sandstone reservoirs. The Whiptail-2 well where drilling was ongoing at the time, encountered 167 feet (51 meters) of net pay in high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs.

Exxon’s Senior Vice President of Exploration and New Ventures, had said that the discovery was encouraging. “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 said at the time, that it envisioned at least six projects operational by 2027. The company appears well on its way to achieving its goals as approval for the Whiptail field would mean operational confirmation gained for the six targets investments. So far, the Liza 1 and 2 fields are on stream, with Payara set for this year. Consortium partner Hess, had said that the operators envisioned an FPSO coming on stream every other year. It was noted that the fourth development, the US$10b Yellowtail project, when operated in 2025 will be the largest investment to date. ExxonMobil’s fifth project at the Uaru-Mako field which holds over 1.3 billion barrels of oil will however come in at over US$12b with a capacity of 300,000 barrels of oil per day following the proposed 2027 start up.

Last year the Stabroek Block consortium where ExxonMobil has a 45% operating stake, Hess has 30% and CNOOC has 25%, confirmed the intent to ramp up investment. Hess Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), John Hess had said that once the requisite permissions were given Guyana could have an FPSO operating every year after 2025. The push in field developments would see the operators reaching capacity of 1.2 million barrels of oil per day by 2027. Documentation for Exxon’s fifth and sixth projects are currently with the environmental agency. The Stabroek Consortium has noted that the block has the potential for as much as 10 projects with commercial crude quantity.