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ExxonMobil eyes major expansion with 35-well drilling campaign
(Kaieteur News) – ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL), acting as operator on behalf of its Stabroek Block co-venturers Hess Guyana Exploration Limited and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited has applied to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for authorisation to drill up to 35 additional exploration and appraisal wells in the Stabroek Block, signalling continued aggressive expansion of one of the world’s most productive offshore oil frontiers.
The application, details of which were published in an EPA project summary, marks one of the most expansive single exploration campaigns proposed for the block to date.
Prospect areas for proposed Stabroek Block 35-Well Exploration/Appraisal Drilling Campaign.
The proposed campaign covers the drilling and appraisal of up to 35 wells within the Stabroek Block, situated approximately 200 kilometres offshore Guyana, with operations scheduled to run from 2028 through 2033.
Because final well locations have not yet been determined, four areas of interest have been identified within the block as candidate sites. Some wells will be drilled for pure exploration purposes, while others may serve as appraisal wells near previously drilled areas, helping to delineate and confirm the extent of known hydrocarbon accumulations.
Beyond drilling, activities may include Vertical Seismic Profiling (VSP), well testing, and sidetracking operations. Upon the conclusion of each well, plugging and abandonment procedures will be carried out in accordance with standard offshore practice. All project activities will occur entirely within the offshore marine environment, with land-based logistics supported through existing marine shorebases.
In a notice dated June 14, the EPA determined that the proposed campaign, considered in isolation, would not significantly affect the environment and on that basis, ruled that a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not required. The agency cited the temporary and localised nature of anticipated impacts, which it said would remain confined within the boundaries of the Stabroek Block.
Potential environmental effects identified by the EPA include impacts on marine water quality, air quality, marine fauna, and socio-economic resources.
However, the EPA stopped short of an unconditional clearance. Recognising the cumulative weight of ongoing and overlapping activities already underway in the Stabroek Block, the agency determined that a Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) is required an acknowledgement that while any single project may fall below the threshold for an EIA, the combined and compounding effects of multiple simultaneous operations in the same offshore environment warrant deeper scrutiny.
In accordance with Sections 11(6) and (7) of the Environmental Protection Act, Cap. 20:05, Laws of Guyana, members of the public have 28 days from the date of the June 14 notice to submit written input to the EPA, identifying the questions and concerns they wish to be addressed in the Cumulative Impact Assessment.
The window represents a formal and time-limited opportunity for communities, civil society organisations, and environmental advocates to help shape the scope of the environmental review before it is conducted.
Stabroek’s Relentless Expansion
The application underscores the relentless pace at which ExxonMobil and its partners continue to advance exploration across the Stabroek Block a licence area that has already yielded more than 30 significant oil discoveries and underpins Guyana’s emergence as one of the fastest-growing oil producers in the Western Hemisphere. The proposed 35-well campaign, if authorised, would extend that exploration push well into the next decade.
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Walton Morant Basin Jamaica http://www.uogplc.com.
A UK-based oil and gas exploration company says new offshore testing in Jamaican waters has identified hydrocarbons that could signal the presence of petroleum beneath the seabed.
United Oil & Gas plc (UOG) announced on Wednesday that it has completed analysis of seabed samples collected from the Walton-Morant Licence, an area long considered to hold potential oil and gas reserves. The company said the results mark an important step toward determining whether offshore drilling could eventually take place.
During its recent Seabed Geochemical Exploration (SGE) survey, UOG has undertaken a geochemical analysis on the 42 piston cores acquired across the Walton-Morant Licence. The analysis has identified C4 and C5 hydrocarbons, including butanes and pentanes, in select piston cores within the headspace gas dataset. The Walton-Morant licence could contain approximately 7 billion barrels of prospective resources, though this represents potential rather than confirmed reserves.
These higher order hydrocarbons are not typically associated with biogenic gas systems and are therefore consistent with a potential thermogenic contribution. This distinction is significant because thermogenic hydrocarbons are more commonly linked to oil and gas deposits, whereas biogenic gas usually forms closer to the surface and is less likely to indicate large-scale petroleum resources.
There is an established body of evidence for an active petroleum system in Jamaica in general, and on the licence in particular, including repeat satellite slick anomalies, thermogenic hydrocarbon geochemistry from existing onshore and offshore wells, onshore and offshore oil seeps, and onshore surface outcrops.
Furthermore, petroleum systems modelling suggests the presence of oil-mature source rocks. The 2026 SGE survey is the first on the licence to be optimally positioned using 3D seismic, multibeam echosounder (MBES) seabed mapping, and satellite-derived slick anomaly data.
Taken together, the data are interpreted as consistent with an active petroleum system offshore Jamaica.
(Sources: United Oil and Gas PLC and Caribbean National Weekly)