The latest discovery in the Stabroek Block was made by the Pluma-1 well, which intersected nearly 121ft of high-quality hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone reservoir upon being drilled to a depth of 5,013m in 3,340ft of water.
Drilled by the Noble Tom Madden drillship since 1 November, the Pluma-1 well is located nearly 27km south of the Turbot-1 well. The Noble Tom Madden drillship will move on to the Tilapia-1 prospect, located 5.5km west of the Longtail-1 well, said ExxonMobil.
The oil and gas major is the operator of the offshore Guyanese block with a stake of 45% through its affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana. ExxonMobil said that the resource estimate of the offshore block has been increased from the previous estimate of over four billion oil-equivalent barrels as a result of the Pluma-1 well discovery and further evaluation of previous discoveries.
The Pluma-1 discovery joins the Liza, Liza Deep, Payara, Snoek, Turbot, Ranger, Pacora, Longtail and Hammerhead discoveries, all made in the Stabroek Block. The eighth and ninth discoveries prior to Pluma-1 were made using the Stena Carron drillship by the drilling of the Hammerhead-1 and Longtail-1 wells.
ExxonMobil Exploration president Steve Greenlee said: “Together with the government and people of Guyana, we are continuing to grow the value of the Stabroek Block for Guyana, our partners and ExxonMobil with successful exploration investments.
“Our ongoing work will evaluate development options in the southeastern portion of the block, potentially combining Pluma with prior Turbot and Longtail discoveries into a major new development area.”
Among the discoveries made in the Stabroek Block, ExxonMobil expects the Liza Phase 1 development to enter into production by early 2020 while Liza Phase 2 is lined up to begin production by mid-2022. The partners in the offshore Guyanese block are expecting to begin the development of the Payara field in 2019 with an aim to begin production as early as 2023.
ExxonMobil is partnered in the Stabroek Block by Hess Guyana Exploration, a subsidiary of Hess with a stake of 30%, and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana, which holds a stake of 25%.
Hess CEO John Hess said: “Guyana is a truly world class investment opportunity with multi billion barrels of additional exploration potential.
“The growing resource base on the Stabroek Block further underpins the potential for at least five FPSOs producing more than 750,000 barrels of oil per day by 2025.”
