First oil has begun flowing ahead of schedule from the Stabroek block offshore Guyana, a milestone from one of the world’s most promising basins.
The production occurred fewer than 5 years after the first discovery of hydrocarbons and underscores Guyana’s emergence as a major oil producer. Output from the first phase of the Liza field soon will reach 120,000 B/D, with the first cargo of oil set to be sold early in 2020, according to operator ExxonMobil.
“This historic milestone to start oil production safely and on schedule demonstrates ExxonMobil’s commitment to quality and leadership in project execution,” ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said in a statement. “We are proud of our work with the Guyanese people and government to realize our shared long-term vision of responsible resource development that maximizes benefits for all.”
The Stabroek Block is estimated to hold recoverable resources of more than 6 billion BOE. ExxonMobil’s Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited operates the block and owns 45%. Hess Guyana Exploration owns a 30% share and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana owns 25%.
The Liza Phase 1 development uses the Liza Destiny floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel located 120 miles offshore and supports 17 wells. “We are proud to be a partner in the development of this world-class resource and look forward to continuing to work with the government of Guyana and the Guyanese people to realize the remarkable potential of the Stabroek Block,” Hess CEO John Hess said.
The partners also announced on 23 December that they made their 15th discovery on the Stabroek block. The Mako-1 encountered 164 ft of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir. Mako-1, drilled in 5,315 ft of water, is about 6 miles southeast of the Liza field.
“New discoveries in this world-class basin have the potential to support additional developments,” said Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil. “Our proprietary full-wave seismic inversion technology continues to help us better define our discovered resource and move rapidly to the development phase.”
ExxonMobil said that at least five FPSOs will be producing more than 750,000 B/D from Stabroek by 2025. The second FPSO, Liza Unity, is under construction and will be capable of producing up to 220,000 B/D in the Liza Phase 2 development. Front-end engineering design is under way for a potential third FPSO to develop the Payara field pending government and regulatory approvals, the company said.