Owners of Kaieteur Block looking for new operators as ExxonMobil walks away to accelerate works in Stabroek Block

Sep 29, 2023 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas

By Kiana Wilburg

Kaieteur News – ExxonMobil Guyana Limited and Hess Corporation have walked away from the Kaieteur Block to focus on accelerating exploration and production operations in the Stabroek Block where over 33 significant discoveries have been made.

Making this development known to the market was Ratio Petroleum Energy Limited which holds a 25 percent working interest in the Kaieteur Block.

The Guyana Government would have to give its approval for Exxon and Hess’ application to withdraw. Hess currently holds a 20 percent working interest in the block while Exxon has 35 percent. Another company in the block, Cataleya Energy Limited, also holds a 20 percent interest in the block.

Once the Guyana Government approves the application for Hess and Exxon to withdraw, Ratio and Cataleya will each hold 50 percent.

This newspaper understands that Ratio would also become the operator of the block but it is already in talks with other major oil companies to take over that position.

Westmount Energy Limited, a UK based firm which holds shares in Cataleya and Ratio, said it has taken note of the development along with the fact that Exxon would not be drilling a second well in the Kaieteur concession.

Map showing the location of the Kaieteur Block

In a subsequent statement, Exxon not only confirmed that it is leaving the block but noted that its withdrawal has no impact on its commitment to seeking further exploration and development opportunities and to generating additional value for the government and people of Guyana. “This includes our accelerated development and production in the Stabroek block, where we are targeting six FPSOs (floating, production, storage and offloading vessels) by the end of 2027, bringing Guyana’s production capacity to more than one million barrels per day,” Exxon said.

The first well in the Kaieteur Block was drilled in 2020 by Exxon. Dubbed Tanager-1, the well evaluated a number of plays, encountering 16 metres of net oil pay in high-quality sandstone reservoirs of Maastrichtian age.

The well was reported as an oil discovery which is currently considered to be noncommercial as a standalone development.

Guyana is currently considered the world’s fastest growing economy on a per capita basis due to the accelerated oil and gas activities in the Stabroek Block located 120 miles away from the country’s coastline. The concession is operated by ExxonMobil Guyana Limited in partnership with Hess Corporation and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited. Thus far, the Exxon-led consortium have five sanctioned projects, two of which are already producing about 400,000 barrels of oil per day.

Before the end of the year, Guyana is expected to see another oil project brought online, thereby increasing the daily output to over 600,000 barrels of oil per day.

Over 11 billion barrels have been unlocked in the Stabroek Block. Exxon and partners have been granted permission by the country’s environmental regulator to drill 35 wells in hopes of finding more multi-billion barrel discoveries.