US oil and gas giant, ExxonMobil has made an oil discovery on the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana at the Tripletail-1 well in the Turbot area.
The discovery adds to the previously announced estimated recoverable resource of more than 6 billion oil-equivalent barrels on the Stabroek Block.
Tripletail-1 which was drilled in 6,572 feet (2,003 meters) of water, is located approximately 3 miles (5 kilometers) northeast of the longtail discovery.
According to ExxonMobil, after completion of operations at Tripletail, the Noble Tom Madden drillship will next drill the Uaru-1 well, located approximately 6 miles (10 kilometers) east of the Liza field.
“This discovery helps to further inform the development of the Turbot area,” Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil said in a statement posted on the company’s website.
“Together with our partners, ExxonMobil is deploying industry-leading capabilities to identify projects that can be developed efficiently and in a cost-effective way.”
Exploration and development activities are moving forward elsewhere on the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana.
“The Stena Carron drillship is currently drilling the Ranger-2 well and upon completion will conduct a well test at Yellowtail-1.The Noble Bob Douglas drillship is currently completing development drilling operations for the Liza Phase 1 project. ExxonMobil will add a fourth drillship, the Noble Don Taylor, in October 2019 as we continue to optimize our drilling plans based on well results and ongoing study of the basin,” the statement explained.
The Liza Phase 1 development remains on schedule to start up by early 2020 and will produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day utilizing the Liza Destiny floating production storage and offloading (FPSO), which arrived in Guyana on August 29, 2019.
ExxonMobil approved funding for the Liza Phase 2 development after it received government and regulatory approvals in May 2019. Expected to startup by mid-2022, the project plans to use the Liza Unity FPSO to produce up to 220,000 barrels of oil per day. “Pending government approvals, a third development, Payara startup could be as early as 2023 and production would reach an estimated 220,000 barrels of oil per day,” the statement concluded.