Page 8 - LatAmOil Week 48 2022
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LatAmOil                                         GUYANA                                             LatAmOil



                         BP International will be taking over from a unit   operator ExxonMobil (US), BP International
                         of Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil company   will therefore be responsible for marketing
                         (NOC), which has been serving as the market-  about 180,000 bpd next year.
                         ing agent for the Guyanese government’s share   Under its 12-month contract, the BP subsid-
                         of crude exports in 2022. In this capacity, the   iary will be tasked with guiding and supporting
                         Aramco subsidiary has been handling cargoes   Georgetown in all operating and back-office
                         of Liza, a medium to light sweet grade of crude,   tasks related to management of crude sales, both
                         and Unity Gold, a light sweet grade. It has been   in general and with respect to each individual
                         delivering the oil to market in cargoes of about   lifting. It will be responsible for ensuring that
                         1mn barrels each.                    the transactions are carried out in a timely and
                           Stabroek is currently yielding about 360,000   cost-effective manner and for finding new cus-
                         barrels per day (bpd) of oil, with 140,000 bpd   tomers for Guyanese crude oil.
                         coming from Liza-1 and 220,000 bpd from Liza-  Moreover, it will be expected to work closely
                         2. Since Guyana’s government is entitled to 50%   with officials in Georgetown to understand how
                         of all profit oil extracted from the block under   yields from Guyanese crude grades affect sales
                         the profit-sharing agreement (PSA) signed with   prices. ™


       Hess expects ExxonMobil to focus




       on Stabroek’s deeper layers in 2023






                         EXXONMOBIL’S focus in Guyana in 2023 and
                         the first half of 2024 is likely to be exploration of
                         the deeper layers of the Stabroek block, accord-
                         ing to John Hess, the CEO of the US-based
                         super-major’s partner Hess Corp.
                           Hess, whose company holds a non-operating
                         stake in Stabroek, noted during the recent Bank
                         of America Securities 2022 Global Energy Con-
                         ference that ExxonMobil’s Guyanese subsidi-
                         ary had so far mostly been targeting the Upper
                         Campanian intervals of the block’s exploration
                         and development prospects. As such, he said,
                         nearly all of the crude oil extracted from Liza-1
                         and Liza-2, Stabroek’s only producing sections,
                         comes from the Upper Campanian layer, which
                         is home to large, rich and hydrocarbon-dense
                         sand channels at depths of around 15,000 feet
                         (4,600 metres).
                           About 15 penetrations have been made in
                         the Upper Campanian interval, and they are not
                         optimally located, the CEO commented. There
                         are more attractive targets at greater depths of
                         around 18,000 feet (5,500 metres), he stated.
                           “In other words, when we were drilling to
                         the 15,000 feet, you could see on the seismic
                         that there is something material below it that’s at
                         18,000 [feet],” he said. “We saw there were sand
                         channels that mirror those which are 3,000 feet
                         [910 metres] above it and there is oil, but we hav-
                         en’t optimally located it and drilled for the best
                         18,000 feet target.”
                           The matter has become more urgent since   Fangtooth, an oilfield west of Liza, contains deep-lying reserves (Image: Hess)
                         the discovery of oil at Fangtooth, a field to the
                         west of Liza, Hess stated. ExxonMobil and its   determine the extent of the find, he said.
                         partners, including China National Offshore Oil   Part of the goal of the appraisal drilling pro-
                         Corp. (CNOOC), have seen sizeable reserves in   gramme is to decide whether the field can sup-
                         a prolific sand channel at Fangtooth, so they are   port another floating production, storage and
                         drilling an appraisal well to the south-east to   off-loading (FPSO) vessel, he added.



       P8                                       www. NEWSBASE .com                      Week 48   30•November•2022
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