10 Things You Should Know About That Oil Find In Guyana

Guyana President David Granger and other government officials meet with ExxonMobil executives on March 30, 2017. (GINA Image)

By NAN Business Editor

News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Fri. Mar. 31, 2017: On Thursday, March 30th, Exxon Mobil Corp. confirmed a third oil find in Guyana. Here are ten things you should know about the find and what the government and the Exxon affiliate are saying:

1: According to ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd., this is the third oil find on the Stabroek block which his located offshore of the South American CARICOM nation of Guyana.

2: The drillship Stena Carron drilled the discovery well to 16,978 ft (5,175 m) in 5,128 ft (1,563 m) of water in the area known as the block, which is 6.6 million acres (26,800 sq km).

3: The new well is called the Snoek well and encountered high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs at 82 ft (25 m) or more than 100 miles from the Guyana coast.

4: The latest find came near the same targeted area where oil was previously found via the Liza-1 and Payara wells. The Snoek well is located about 5 mi to the southeast of the 2015 Liza-1 discovery.

5: In 2015 ExxonMobil announced the first oil find via Liza and in January 2017, ExxonMobil announced the second positive results from its Payara-1 well.

6: Guyana President David Granger has insisted the government is committed to the norm of transparency and trust so that the Parliamentary Opposition and the people of Guyana are fully involved in the process and view the development of a petroleum industry as one of natural interest and involvement.

7: Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Co., said: “The latest discovery at Snoek demonstrates the continued success we have achieved in this technically complex play, which is just part of the significant exploration province offshore Guyana.”

8: The Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd. is the operator of the exploration deal and owns 45 percent interest in the Stabroek block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. owns 30 percent interest and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Ltd. holds the other 25 interest.

9: Meanwhile, the state-owned Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago (Petrotrin) has already stated that it is ready to refine Guyana’s oil as part of a strategic alliance in the Caribbean Community (Caricom).

10: Guyana could begin commercial oil production in 2020.