Page 10 - LatAmOil Week 17 2022
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LatAmOil                                          GUYANA                                            LatAmOil



                         But Liam Mallon, the president of ExxonMobil   2022. The third project, Payara, is due to follow
                         Upstream Co., said the new finds would help   suit in late 2023 and Yellowtail, the fourth, in
                         determine the course of development work in   2025. Uaru, the fifth, may begin production in
                         that section of the licence area. “These discover-  2026.
                         ies and the updated resource estimate increase   In its statement, ExxonMobil noted that it
                         the confidence we have in our ambitious explo-  had moved the expected start date for first oil
                         ration strategy for the Stabroek block and will   at Payara forward. The company had said pre-
                         help to inform our future development plans for   viously that it hoped to launch its third develop-
                         the south-east part of the block,” he explained.  ment project in 2024, but it now expects to do so
                           Mallon added: “ExxonMobil remains com-  earlier because work on the Prosperity floating
                         mitted to delivering value at an accelerated pace   production, storage and off-loading (FPSO)
                         to the people of Guyana, our partners and share-  vessel is running around five months ahead
                         holders and reliably supplying affordable energy   of schedule. It said it anticipated being able to
                         to meet increasing demand around the world.”  deploy and launch the Prosperity, which will be
                           Equity in the Stabroek project is divided   used to support development operations at the
                         between ExxonMobil, the operator, with 45%;   field, before the end of 2023.
                         Hess, a US-based independent, with 30%; and   Yellowtail, meanwhile, is still slated to begin
                         state-run China National Offshore Oil Corp.   production in 2025, after the One Guyana FPSO
                         (CNOOC), with 25%.                   is completed. This fourth FPSO will be able to
                                                              handle 250,000 barrels per day of crude, more
                         Production schedule                  than the 220,000 bpd handled by the Prosper-
                         The US giant and its partners have already made   ity at Payara, the 220,000 bpd handled by the
                         commercial discoveries within more than 20   Liza Unity at Liza-2 or the 120,000-140,000 bpd
                         sections of Stabroek since 2015. They brought   handled by the Liza-Destiny at Liza-1. (SBM
                         Liza-1, the first development project, on stream   Offshore of the Netherlands built both the Liza
                         in December 2019 and then launched Liza-2,   Destiny and the Liza Unity; it is also building the
                         the second development project, in February   Prosperity and the One Guyana.) ™


       Jagdeo: Guyana will decide on




       NOC or auctions by September






                         GUYANA’S Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said
                         during the Bloomberg New Energy Finance
                         (NEF) Summit last week that Georgetown was
                         on track to make a final decision regarding the
                         potential formation of a national oil company
                         (NOC) in September of this year. The South
                         American state is deciding between establishing
                         the proposed NOC in order to develop its oil and
                         gas resources and auctioning blocks off to new
                         investors as an alternative, Jagdeo explained.
                           Should Guyana decide on the former course,
                         it will play the role of a passive investor, he
                         stressed. Additionally, the government will “get
                         a strategic developer to work within the com-
                         pany to take shares and operate the company for
                         us” if it opts to establish a national firm, he said.
                           Numerous large companies based in the
                         Middle East have expressed an interest in play-
                         ing the role of strategic partner, he added. He did
                         not identify any of these potential partners.  Block C is an unassigned offshore blocks that has drawn interest (File Image)
                           Meanwhile, the vice president continued,
                         in the event that Georgetown selects the auc-  from investors.
                         tion route, the offshore area known as Block C   Before any auctions can be held, Jagdeo said,
                         appears to be of particular interest to potential   Guyana’s government will need to make policy
                         bidders. He also noted that an onshore block   decisions with respect to the model that the
                         covering about 2.3mn acres (9,600 square km)   auctions will follow and the specifics of the legal
                         in size in the Takutu basin had drawn attention   framework that will guide the process.



       P10                                      www. NEWSBASE .com                           Week 17   28•April•2022
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