Sep 01 | 2022
Excitement Builds in Offshore Guyana
By Simon West
Excitement continues to build in offshore Guyana, billed by some as the world’s most exciting hotspot for exploration and production.
ExxonMobil in July announced two more oil discoveries at the 6.6 million-acre Stabroek Block, taking the U.S. energy producer’s total number of finds at the prolific reservoir to more than 25 in under a decade.
Two of those finds – Liza 1 and Liza 2 – are already producing 340,000 barrels of oil per day, or b/d. With the likely start-up of the Payara and Yellowtail projects in 2023 and 2025, respectively, crude at the block could be flowing at a rate of more than 800,000 b/d within three years.
With estimated recoverable resources of 11 million barrels of oil equivalent, or boe, opportunities for breakbulk and project cargo are massive. “Additional phases will follow up, with potential for up to 10 FPSOs at the Stabroek block,” Energy Industry Council’s Pietro Ferreira said.
Jed Bailey, managing director at Energy Narrative, added that Guyana is on track to hit production of 1 million b/d by 2030, with a growing roster of international oil companies actively exploring and producing.
Meanwhile, the former Dutch colony of Suriname, which shares oil and gas resources in the Guyana-Suriname Basin, could also be on the verge of its own offshore boom, with state energy company Staatsolie announcing in May plans to hold an auction for offshore blocks by year-end.
The U.S. Geological Survey, or USGC, said the Guyana-Suriname Basin could hold 13.6 billion barrels of oil and 32 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, ranking it the second-most prospective unexplored basin in the world.
Elsewhere, ongoing development of Argentina’s giant Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas field in northern Patagonia could double crude production to 1 million b/d by 2026, with the government recently launching a tender for the construction of 563-kilometer natural gas pipeline that would expand capacity of the country’s gas network by 25 percent.
Colombia-based Simon West is senior reporter for Breakbulk.
Image credit: Mammoet