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Exxon, Hess Strike Oil Discovery at Guyana Whiptail Prospect

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   |    Wednesday,July 28,2021

ExxonMobil and Hess Corp. announced a significant oil discovery on the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana at Whiptail.

The Whiptail-1 well encountered 246 feet (75 meters) of net pay in high quality oil bearing sandstone reservoirs.

Drilling is also ongoing at the Whiptail-2 well, which is located 3 miles northeast of Whiptail-1 and has encountered 167 feet (51 meters) of net pay in high quality oil bearing sandstone reservoirs. Drilling continues at both wells to test deeper targets, and results will be evaluated for future development.

The Whiptail discovery is located approximately 4 miles southeast of the Uaru-1 discovery that was announced in January 2020 and approximately 3 miles west of the Yellowtail field. Whiptail-1 is being drilled in 5,889 feet (1,795 meters) of water by the Stena DrillMAX. Whiptail-2 is currently being drilled in 6,217 feet (1,895 meters) of water by the Noble Don Taylor.

CEO John Hess said: "Whiptail is a significant new oil discovery that will add to the discovered recoverable resource estimate of approximately 9 billion barrels of oil equivalent and could underpin a future oil development in the southeast area of the Stabroek Block."

Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil, commented: "This discovery increases our confidence in the resource size and quality in the southeast area of the Stabroek Block and could form the basis for a future development as we continue to evaluate the best sequence of development opportunities within the block."

The Liza Destiny FPSO is currently producing about 120,000 gross barrels of oil per day. Startup of Liza Phase 2 remains on target for early 2022 utilizing the Liza Unity FPSO with production capacity of approximately 220,000 gross barrels of oil per day. The Unity is expected to sail from Singapore to Guyana in late August.

A third development at the Payara Field was sanctioned in September 2020 that will utilize the Prosperity FPSO with production capacity of 220,000 gross barrels of oil per day; first oil is expected in 2024. The first Payara development well was spudded in June 2021, and the offshore SURF installation will begin in the third quarter. The hull for the Prosperity FPSO is complete, and topsides construction activities are underway in Singapore.

A fourth development, Yellowtail, is planned with anticipated startup in 2025, pending government approvals and project sanctioning. This project will develop the Yellowtail and Redtail fields, which are located approximately 19 miles (30 kilometers) southeast of the Liza developments, and potentially adjacent resources.

The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres. ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds 45 percent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 percent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds 25 percent interest.