ExxonMobil makes oil discovery at Stabroek block offshore Guyana

Stabroek block partners made another oil discovery offshore Guyana, operator ExxonMobil said in a release Sept. 9.

The Pinktail well encountered 220 ft (67 m) of net pay in high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir. Pinktail lies some 21.7 miles (35 km) southeast of the Liza Phase 1 development, which began production in December 2019, and 3.7 miles (6 km) southeast of Yellowtail-1. Pinktail was drilled in 5,938 ft (1,810 m) of water by the Noble Sam Croft.

“These discoveries are part of an extensive well program in the Stabroek block utilizing six drillships to test play extensions and new concepts, evaluate existing discoveries and complete development wells for the Liza Phase 2 and Payara projects,” said Mike Cousins, senior vice-president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil. 

In addition to successful appraisal of the Turbot discovery, the Turbot-2 well encountered 43 ft (13 m) of net pay in a newly identified, high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir separate from the 75 ft (23 m) of high quality, oil bearing sandstone reservoir pay encountered in the original Turbot-1 discovery well.

The Turbot-2 discovery is another example of the additional pay found in deeper reservoirs such as those encountered at Whiptail, the company said. These results will be incorporated into future developments.

The Turbot-2 discovery lies some 37 miles (60 km) to the southeast of the Liza Phase 1 development and 2.5 miles (4 km) from Turbot-1. Turbot-2 was drilled in 5,790 ft (1,765 m) of water by the Noble Sam Croft.

The Stabroek block is 6.6 million acres. At least six FPSOs are expected to be online by 2027 with the potential for up to 10 FPSOs on the block to develop the current discovered recoverable resource base.

ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd. is operator with 45% interest. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30% interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Ltd., a subsidiary of CNOOC Ltd., holds 25%.