ExxonMobil Corp. affiliate Esso Exploration & Production Guyana Ltd. encountered 65 ft of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone following drilling at the Pacora-1 well offshore Guyana. The well was drilled to 18,363 ft in 6,781 ft of water. The oil discovery marks the seventh on the Stabroek block for the company. Drilling commenced on Jan. 29.
The Pacora-1 well is 4 miles west of the Payara-1 well, and follows previous discoveries on the Stabroek Block at Liza, Payara, Liza Deep, Snoek, Turbot, and Ranger (OGJ Online, May 20, 2015;Jan. 12, 2017;Mar. 30, 2017;Oct. 5, 2017; and Jan. 5, 2018).
“The giant Payara field, which is planned as the third development offshore Guyana, will now include Pacora resources—increasing the size of the [floating production, storage, and offloading vessel] and bringing expected gross production from the first three phases of development to more than 500,000 b/d of oil,” said Hess Chief Executive Officer John Hess. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds a 30% interest in the 6.6 million-acre block.
Following completion of the Pacora-1 well, the Stena Carron drillship will move to Liza field to drill the Liza-5 well and complete a well test to assess concepts for the Payara development. Project sanctioning for the Liza Phase 1 development was announced in June 2017 (OGJ Online, Jun. 16, 2017). After Liza-5, the Stena Carron will conduct additional exploration and appraisal drilling on the block.
Esso E&P Guyana is operator and holds a 45% interest in the Stabroek block. Hess Guyana Exploration holds 30% interest and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Ltd. holds 25% interest.
