ExxonMobil, America’s largest oil company and the maker of lubricants for Mobil UK distributors, has announced its ninth discovery in the form of its Hammerhead-1 well offshore of Guyana. It is the company’s fifth discovery this year alone on the Stabroek Block.
The Stena Carron drillship commenced drilling work on July 27, 2018, resulting in a well being safely drilled to a depth of 4,225 metres under 1,150 metres of water. It then discovered a 60-metre reservoir of good quality, oil-bearing sandstone.
On the Stabroek Block, previous discoveries had already been made at the Payara, Pacora, Liza, Turbot , Snoek, Liza Deep, Ranger, and Longtail wells. Based on these alone, the company estimated that it had so far discovered more than four Bboe (billion barrels of oil equivalent) in recoverable resources. It also said there was potential for up to five FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading) vessels to operate, enough to produce in excess of 750,000 bpd (barrels per day) of oil by 2025.
There is also still potential for more discoveries. To accelerate exploration, ExxonMobil is sending the Noble Tom Madden as a second exploration ship.
The president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company, Steve Greenlee, said about the discovery:
“The Hammerhead-1 discovery reinforces the potential of the Guyana basin, where ExxonMobil is already maximizing value for all stakeholders through rapid phased developments and accelerated exploration plans. Development options for Hammerhead will take into account ongoing evaluation of reservoir data, including a well test.”
