GEORGETOWN, Guyana--Director of the Department of Energy, Mark Bynoe has announced that both Tullow Oil and ExxonMobil have made discoveries of oil in commercial quantities – and they were both made on Monday.
The finds mark the second for Tullow in the Orinduik block, and the 14th for ExxonMobil in the Stabroek Block, bringing the total number of oil discoveries from 2015 to date, to 16.
“We are particularly appreciative of the prolific rate at which Guyana has been able to uncover very valuable resource,” Bynoe said, adding that the discoveries demonstrate that the country has substantial oil resources.
He noted that while it was too early to determine the number of oil-equivalent barrels, Guyana’s estimated production has exceeded expectations.
“We now have to do further tests to be able to determine potential barrel equivalency before we can make that projection. It seems as if Guyana is well on the upward trajectory to be way beyond the 6.5 billion [mark – Ed.] as we go forward,” he said.
On Monday morning, it was announced that the Joe-1 exploration well was successful, making it the second discovery of oil in two different wells operated by Tullow, in less than six weeks.
The Joe-1 exploration well was drilled by the Stena Forth drillship to a total depth of 2,175 metres in water depth of 780 metres. The evaluation of logging and sampling data confirms that Joe-1 has encountered 14 metres of net oil pay in high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs of Upper Tertiary age.
A few hours after Tullow’s discovery was announced, US oil giant ExxonMobil reported that it had encountered approximately 108 feet of a high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir at Tripletail-1. The well was drilled in 6,572 feet of water, located approximately three miles northeast of the Longtail discovery.
In a release from ExxonMobil, Senior Vice President of Exploration and New Ventures, Mike Cousins said, “This discovery helps to further inform the development of the Turbot area … Together with our partners, ExxonMobil is deploying industry-leading capabilities to identify projects that can be developed efficiently and in a cost-effective way.”
With the recent finds, Bynoe assured that “the government will continue to work conscientiously to pursue the most effective and efficient marketing strategies of Guyana’s crude entitlement to transform our economy and to implement sustainable development programmes from which all Guyanese can benefit.”
The rate of discoveries in Guyana has been deemed astronomical when compared to that in other parts of the world. ~ Caribbean360 ~
