ExxonMobil pushes the envelope with ultra-deepwater Guyana wells
Drilling of Trumpetfish-1 and Red Mouth-1 wildcats in Stabroek block are taking place in over 2300 metres of water
US supermajor ExxonMobil is continuing wildcatting activities in the Stabroek block offshore Guyana, and this time the company is diving into deeper territory than in previous exploration endeavours in search of hydrocarbon deposits.
ExxonMobil is producing over 600,000 barrels per day of oil in Guyana via three floating production, storage and offloading vessels, and the company has already sanctioned an additional three FPSOs to enter operation by 2027.
The company is looking to unlock additional recoverable resources in Stabroek, which officially stand at about 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
According to updated information provided by Guyana’s Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), ExxonMobil is currently engaged in a two-well campaign with drilling of the Trumpetfish-1 and Red Mouth-1 wildcats with the Stena Drilling drillship Stena Carron.
However, unlike the majority of the exploration wells drilled in the Stabroek block over the past decade, the new campaign at Trumpetfish-1 is taking place in water depths of approximately 2600 metres and about 236 kilometres from the Guyanese coast.
Meanwhile, drilling of Red Mouth-1 is happening at around 2400 metres of water. Data from MARAD suggested that ExxonMobil drilled the top section of Trumpetfish-1 and moved the rig to the Red Mouth-1 location this week.
It was not immediately clear what type of reservoir ExxonMobil is targeting with Trumpetfish-1 and Red Mouth-1, but all six projects green-lighted to date in Guyana — Liza, Liza Deep, Payara, Yellowtail, Uaru and Whiptail — are situated in less than 2000 metres of water.
ExxonMobil is understood to be assessing a potential seventh development in Guyana, with much speculation pointing to the joint Fangtooth-Lancetfish cluster for the next FPSO deployment.
Work is progressing normally in Guyana even though ExxonMobil and US rival Chevron are locked in a judicial dispute over a 30% working interest owned by Hess in the Stabroek block.
Chevron is in the process of acquiring Hess for $53 billion, but the merger hit a snag after ExxonMobil and Stabroek partner CNOOC International filed an arbitration to secure their rights of first refusal over the prolific asset.
Elsewhere in Guyana, ExxonMobil has demobilised the Stena drillship Stena DrillMax from the region and is taking the rig temporarily to Canada to spud the high-profile Persephone wildcat in Exploration Licence 1169 in the Orphan basin.
Drilling of Persephone in nearly 3000 metres of water is expected to last a few months, after which the Stena DrillMax will return to Guyana.
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