ExxonMobil has increased its estimates by 25% for the hydrocarbon resources in the Stabroek Block offshore of Guyana after the company made its 10th discovery in the region.
The company, which also makes oil-based products like the Mobil ATF LT 71141 transmission oil, is betting heavily on the offshore Guyana region to supply its oil in future. It has also invested heavily in the US shale industry, particularly the Permian Basin. Together with improved projections from other discoveries, the new Pluma-1 find led ExxonMobil to increase its estimates for the resource base from four billion to five billion barrels of oil equivalent.
An ExxonMobil senior vice president, Neil Chapman, said about the discovery:
“The discovery of a resource base of more than five billion oil-equivalent barrels in less than four years is a testament of our technical expertise and rigorous evaluation and pursuit of high-potential, high-risk opportunities in this frontier area.”
According to the company, the Noble Tom Madden drillship drilled the Pluma-1 well 17 miles of the Turbot-1 well. It encountered about 37m of what is described as “high-quality hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone reservoir.”
The new discovery is the fifth find this year alone. ExxonMobil operates the Stabroek Block through its affiliate company Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd. The company has a 45% stake in the block, with partners CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Ltd and Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holding 25% and 30%, respectively. The first production, the Liza Phase 1 development, is expected to begin pumping oil in early 2020.
