Page 11 - LatAmOil Week 14 2020
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G U Y A N A
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It also noted that the Guyanese government was set to receive a $1.3mn royalty payment for Jan- uary, based on a draft of the pricing procedures, Reuters added.
The consortium, which is led by the US supermajor ExxonMobil and its non-operating partners China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) and Hess (US), has made more than 15 discoveries at the Stabroek block offshore Guyana.
It brought the block on stream last Decem- ber, and exports started in January.
Stabroek is located approximately 120 miles (193 km) offshore Guyana and covers an area of 6.6mn acres (26,710 square km), making it equivalent in size to 1,150 Gulf of Mexico blocks, according to information on Hess’ website. It contains more than 8bn barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in recoverable resources, the US inde- pendent said.
This figure covers 15 discoveries made before the end of 2019, and it does not encompass a further discovery in January that would push the estimate higher, Hess added. The block, which came on stream last December, still has several billion barrels of additional exploration
potential, it said.
Guyana is one of Latin America’s poorest
countries and has no experience of oil produc- tion. Yet it has seen its fortunes change around since it awarded hundreds of blocks to Exxon- Mobil in the late 1990s. Other international oil companies (IOCs), including Spain’s Repsol and France’s Total, are also exploring the offshore zone.
Georgetown has said it will use marketing agents to sell its share of crude from Liza, the first field to begin production, despite the coro- navirus outbreak and recent political turmoil following a presidential election.
Last month, Guyana launched a search for a company that will market its share of oil from Liza. The marketing agent will be expected to lift around five cargoes of around 1mn barrels each per year, the government has said. The dura- tion of the contract will be 12 months, and the company is required to have at least five years of experience in oil marketing and trading.
Guyana made its first sale of crude from the Liza field to Royal Dutch Shell (UK/Nether- lands) last year. It did so via open-market ten- ders, since it has no refining capacity.
Oil price plunge has no impact on Liza project, ExxonMobil says
THE recent drop in crude oil prices has had no impact on production at Guyana’s flagship Liza project, ExxonMobil has said.
The US super-major, which serves as opera- tor of the project, indicated that it was confident about the future of development operations at Liza.
“We are managing production rates to ensure
safe and responsible operations,” said Janelle Persaud, ExxonMobil’s public and government affairs adviser in Guyana.
Persaud said, though, that her company would alter its course if necessary. “We continue to monitor the situation closely and will make adjustments as necessary,” she was quoted as saying in a company press release.
Both Liza and Payara lie within the Stabroek block (Image: Hess)
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