Guyana welcomes two new offshore oil discoveries
Guyana’s Ministry of Natural Resources welcomed ExxonMobil’s latest oil discoveries in the Stabroek Block at Sailfin-1 and Yarrow-1 Offshore Guyana.
Since 2015, more than 30 discoveries have been made within the Stabroek Block. The government hopes these two new discoveries will significantly expand the country’s petroleum reserves. While a result, the Ministry of Natural Resources and its regulatory agencies continue to create capacity to improve monitoring and exploration activities as offshore development and production in Guyana accelerate at a rate that exceeds the petroleum industry average.
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Sailfin-1 well encountered roughly 312 feet (95 meters) of sandstone containing hydrocarbons and was drilled in 4,616 feet (1,400 meters) of water. The Yarrow-1 well was bored in 3,560 feet (1,070 meters) of water and found roughly 23 meters of hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone at a depth of around 75 feet. The drillship Stena Carron drilled both wells.
The Minister of Natural Resources, the Honorable Vickram Bharrat, Member of Parliament, stated that the Petroleum Sector regulatory agencies were mandated to enhance collaboration with all other operators to expedite their drill programs as we seek to expand the sector through the discovery of recoverable high-quality hydrocarbon. Minister Bharrat added that the highly anticipated bidding process for the oil blocks offshore Guyana is likely to attract new and emerging big petroleum corporations, enhancing Guyana’s oil and gas potential.
In the third quarter, the first two offshore developments, Liza Phase 1 and Liza Phase 2, produced an average of over 360,000 barrels of oil per day, above their design capacity. Payara is anticipated to begin operations by the end of 2023, and Yellowtail is anticipated to begin in 2025. In addition, ExxonMobil is seeking environmental approval for a fifth project, Uaru. ExxonMobil expects Guyana’s oil production capacity to exceed one million barrels per day by the end of the decade.
The Government of Guyana remains dedicated to the sustainable exploration and development of Guyana’s oil and gas resources in accordance with international best practices for production, compliance, and transparency in the petroleum industry and to ensuring that all Guyanese benefit.