U.S. oil firm ExxonMobil has made another oil discovery offshore Guyana, this time at Pinktail prospect in the prolific Stabroek Block.
The Pinktail well, ExxonMobil said, encountered 220 feet (67 meters) of net pay in high-quality hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone reservoirs in what has been described as the 20th significant discovery in the block.
Pinktail is located approximately 21.7 miles (35 kilometers) southeast of the Liza Phase 1 development, which began production in December 2019 via the Liza Destiny FPSO, and 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) southeast of Yellowtail-1. Pinktail was drilled in 5,938 feet (1,810 meters) of water by the Noble Sam Croft drillship.
In addition to the successful appraisal of the Turbot discovery, the Turbot-2 well encountered 43 feet (13 meters) of net pay in a newly identified, high-quality hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone reservoir separate from the 75 feet (23 meters) of high quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir pay encountered in the original Turbot-1 discovery well.
This follows the additional pay in deeper reservoirs encountered at the previously announced Whiptail discovery. These results will be incorporated into future developments.
“These discoveries are part of an extensive well program in the Stabroek Block utilizing six drillships to test play extensions and new concepts, evaluate existing discoveries and complete development wells for the Liza Phase 2 and Payara projects,” said Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil. “Our exploration successes continue to increase the discovered resource and will generate value for both the Guyanese people and our shareholders.”
The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers). ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is the operator and holds 45 percent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 percent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25 percent interest.
Hess CEO John Hess said: “We are happy to announce our 20th significant discovery on the Stabroek Block, which will add to the discovered recoverable resource estimate of more than 9 billion barrels of oil equivalent.”