ExxonMobil Corp. and partners have added a 10th discovery to its blossoming exploration success story offshore Guyana, where discovered recoverable resource estimates have now surpassed 5 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Bboe).
The Irving, Texas-headquartered company said Dec. 3 the Pluma-1 well, which was drilled by the Noble Tom Madden drillship, hit about 37 m (121 ft) of high-quality hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone reservoir. The well is located about 27 km (17 miles) south of the Turbot-1 well.
Drilled to a depth of 5,013 m (16,447 ft) in a 1,018 m (3,340 ft) of water, the well-targeted Upper Cretaceous reservoirs.
“The discovery of a resource base of more than 5 billion oil-equivalent barrels in less than four years is a testament of our technical expertise and rigorous evaluation and pursuit of high-potential, high-risk opportunities in this frontier area,” Neil Chapman, ExxonMobil senior vice president, said in the release. “We will continue to apply what we’ve learned to identify additional exploration prospects and potential future discoveries that will deliver significant value to Guyanese people, our partners and shareholders.”
The drillship is set to drill the Tilapia-1 prospect next. Tilapia is located about 5.5 km (3.4 miles) west of the Longtail-1 well, ExxonMobil said.
The Pluma-1 discovery followed news in August of the Hammerhead-1 discovery, which opened a new play concept for potential development.
So far, ExxonMobil has announced five discoveries in the Stabroek Block this year with the latest bringing the total count to 10. Others include Liza, Liza Deep, Payara, Snoek, Turbot, Ranger, Pacora, Longtail and Hammerhead, proving the hydrocarbon-prolific nature of the 26,800-sq-km block.
