ExxonMobil Hits Again at Payara-2
Tuesday 25 July 2017
ExxonMobil said Tuesday it found oil at its Payara-2 appraisal well of Guyana, which it believes increases the volume of the Payara discovery to 500 million barrels of oil equivalent.
The US supermajor has also increased its resource estimate for the Stabroek block to between 2.25 billion and 2.75 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Payara-2 was drilled by the drillship Stena Carron and came across 59 feet (18 metres) of "high-quality, oil bearing" sandstone. The well was drilled to about 19,068 feet (5,812 meters) in approximately 7,000 feet (2,135 meters) of water.
The well is about 12 miles north-west of the Liza discovery, where ExxonMobil has already taken a final investment decision on the first phase of a development via a floating production, storage and offloading unit. First oil is scheduled for 2020.
“Payara-2 confirms the second giant field discovered in Guyana,” Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company, said in a statement.
“Payara, Liza and the adjacent satellite discoveries at Snoek and Liza Deep will provide the foundation for world class oil developments and deliver substantial benefits to Guyana."
The drillsite is about 130 miles off the South American nation.
ExxonMobil operates with a 45% stake, with Hess on 30% and CNOOC on 25%.
The Payara-1 discovery, which was confirmed in January, was drilled to a total depth of 5512 metres and hit 95 feet of net pay. It has already been described by one of the block partners as commercial.
In March, the partners revealed their third discovery on the block as the Stena Carron hit 25 metres of oil-bearing sandstone reservoir at Snoek.