ExxonM partner reveals 746M barrels of oil found in one of eight discoveries

Mar 24, 2024 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas

Map showing the location of the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana

…as VP Jagdeo pussyfooting on updating nation on total barrels after two years

Kaieteur News – One of the eight discoveries made by ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) in the Stabroek Block, since 2022, holds an estimated reserve of 746 million barrels of oil.

This was disclosed by Exxon’s partner, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Limited, in its 2023 Annual Results.

ExxonMobil is the operator of the Stabroek with a 45% stake, with partners CNOOC Ltd and Hess holding interests of 25% and 30%, respectively.

CNOOC said in the report that the Lancetfish discovery, which was made in April 2023, averaged some 100 million tons, which is equivalent to 746 million barrels, according to the conversion formula of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

Despite making eight new successful discoveries in the Stabroek Block since April 2022, the ExxonMobil-led joint venture has not provided an update of the total estimated recoverable resources to the nation.

The last resource count, dated April 26, 2022, declared the recoverable resource for the Stabroek Block at nearly 11 billion oil-equivalent barrels. Since then, Exxon announced eight subsequent discoveries, the Seabob-1 and Kiru-Kiru-1 wells, Sailfin-1, Yarrow-1, Fangtooth SE, Lancetfish-1, and Lancetfish-2 wells, along with the recently announced Bluefin discovery.

In an invited comment, Opposition Parliamentarian, David Patterson said the nation was not being updated on its oil reserves as this would trigger massive countrywide protests for a better deal.

The previous Coalition government had accepted a 2% royalty and granted excessive tax holidays to the Contractor and its sub-contractors. Guyana merely receives 12.5 of profits, after Exxon deduct 75% each month to recover its investments.

Patterson believes that the blackout of information on the recoverable resources could be a strategic move by the oil major to avoid an intensified public pressure for renegotiation of the lopsided Production Sharing Agreement (PSA).

“If Guyanese are clamouring every single day for a renegotiation when we only have 11 billion barrels proven reserves, imagine the clamour and the outcry when they (Exxon) actually finish appraising these wells and it jumps from 11 billion barrels to say something like 40 billion barrels and the true magnitude of what Exxon has already discovered becomes known,” the former Minister said.

ExxonMobil at a press conference in February this year told reporters that the company was not focused on updating the reserves, but on monetizing the resources found, a position that is supported by the Government of Guyana.

Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, who is the chief policymaker for the sector said at his Thursday press conference that government receives quarterly reports from the operator of the Block, containing updates on the reserves.

He was however reluctant to share the updated numbers and told reporters he would check whether the reports received from Exxon contained any “proprietary information”.

Notably, while the President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge said the company was no longer focused on updating the numbers, the Senior Vice President of Exxon Mobil Corporation, Neil Chapman revealed that appraisal activities are ongoing to help the company understand the resources.

This process helps to reduce the range of uncertainty in the volumes of hydrocarbons in place; define the size and configuration of the reservoir and collect data for the prediction of the performance of the reservoir during the forecasted production life.

Chapman said, “We have six drilling ships in the basin in pretty close proximity. And these drill ships are doing a combination of what I call exploration drilling, appraisal drilling and development drilling.”

barrels, CNOOC, Exxon, oil, reserves, update

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