Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 40 2021

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The state-run company is also trying to increase Venezuelan cities.
refinery throughput in order to improve domes- Venezuela has few options for alleviating
tic petroleum product supplies. these shortages. The US sanctions regime, which
Its cash-strapped refineries have been run- was expanded in 2019 to cover most transac-
ning at a fraction of their capacity in recent tions involving PdVSA and the hydrocarbon
years, and severe gasoline and diesel short- industry, has greatly reduced the number of
ages have idled millions of cars and buses and traders willing or able to deliver fuel to the South
have also wreaked havoc on food shipments to American country. ™

GUYANA
ExxonMobil makes new find at Cataback-1

EXXONMOBIL (US) revealed earlier this week continually working through consultations to
that it had made a discovery in Cataback-1, an enhance local content with policies and legisla-
exploration well drilled at the Stabroek block off- tion that will create a sustainable development
shore Guyana. The find is substantial enough to pathway to ensure maximum economic benefits
push the block’s estimated recoverable reserves for all Guyanese.”
up to about 10bn barrels of oil equivalent (boe), For its part, the US-based giant played up its
the company said in a statement. commitment to using local content in its state-
According to the statement, ExxonMobil ment. “ExxonMobil’s recent discoveries and
and its partners encountered 74 metres of net ongoing projects continue to contribute to the
hydrocarbon pay in high-quality sandstone advancement of the Guyanese economy, with
reservoirs in the well. The investors have been more than 2,850 Guyanese now supporting the
using the Noble Tom Madden drillship to sink company’s project activities,” it said. “Exxon-
Cataback-1 at a site about 6 km east of the Tur- Mobil and its key contractors have spent over
bot-1 well in 1,807-metre-deep water. $480mn with more than 800 Guyanese vendors
The US super-major did not say whether it since 2015.”
had completed the Cataback-1 well. It noted, Equity in the Stabroek project is split
though, that the success of this drilling project between ExxonMobil, the operator, with 45%;
had brought the number of significant discover- Hess Guyana Exploration, with 30%; and China
ies made at the Stabroek block up to more than National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), with
20. 25%. The partners made their first discovery
Mike Cousins, ExxonMobil’s senior at Liza in 2015 and launched Liza-1, their first
vice-president of exploration and new ventures, development project, in December 2019. Liza-
indicated that the Cataback-1 find might sup- 2, the second development project, is slated to
port a future development project. “This discov- come on stream in 2022, followed by Payara in
ery adds to the resource in the Turbot/Tripletail 2024 and Yellowtail in 2025. ™
area, enhancing the development project poten-
tial,” he said. “Our proprietary technologies,
global exploration experience and drilling capa-
bilities continue to yield positive results in the
Stabroek block, which will generate additional
value for Guyana.”
ExxonMobil’s announcement drew praise
from Guyana’s Natural Resources Minister
Vickram Bharrat. The Cataback-1 discovery has
“further enhanced the development potentials
of Guyana’s offshore blocks,” he said, according
to a report from OilNOW.gy.
Bharrat went on to say that Guyana’s gov-
ernment was committed to ensuring that the
Stabroek block was developed in a fair and
appropriate manner. “[As] Minister of Natural
Resources with responsibility for petroleum, I
would like to once again remind all Guyanese
and stakeholders that the oil and gas invest-
ments and activities will be undertaken in a
manner that is keeping with international best
practices for compliance and transparency
within the petroleum sector,” he commented.
“Additionally, the [government of Guyana] is Cataback is near the Turbot and Tripletail sections of Stabroek (Image: Hess)

Week 40 07•October•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9