Exxon Mobil began commercial production in Guyana as the Texas energy major announced its 15th discovery in the prolific oil fields off coast of the small South American country.
Exxon and its partners, Hess Corp. of New York and the Chinese oil company CNOOC, are beginning production about three months ahead of schedule. Output from the first phase of the development of the offshore field known as Liza is expected to reach 120,000 gross barrels a day in the coming months. The first cargoes of crude are expected to be sold in coming weeks, the companies said.
Exxon owns 45 percent of the Guyana project, Hess 30 percent and CNOOC Ltd. 25 percent. The discovery and production of oil has the potential to transform Guyana, a poor country of about 800,000 people on the northeast coast of South America, next to Venezuela.
The 6.6 million acre region in which Exxon and its partners are drilling is known as the Stabroek Block. It has recoverable reserves estimated at more than 6 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Guyana, along with the Permian Basin, have become key assets of Exxon Mobil and a focus of the company’s capital spending. Exxon on Monday said it made another discovery off of Guyana, this one at its deepwater Mako 1 well, its 15th discovery in four years.
More than a mile beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, Mako 1 is six miles southeast of the Liza Field. . A second floating, production, storage and offloading facility, with capacity of as much as 220,000 gross barrels of oil per day, is under construction as part of Liza’s phase 2 development. At least five such facilities are expected to be producing more than 750,000 gross barrels of oil per day from the Stabroek block by 2025, the companies said.
How discovery of oil would benefit Guyana and its people is still unclear. While the country has established a sovereign wealth fund, it has been slow to develop regulations to govern the sector and there’s no set plan on how the money will be spent.
Guyana President David Granger said the government has a 10-year plan to create oil-related jobs and boost the economy. “Your government will manage petroleum revenues prudently to ensure fiscal discipline, financial sector stability, sustainable levels of public debt and low inflation,” Granger said in a video address to the people of Guyana.
Bloomberg News and James Osborne of the Houston Chronicle contributed.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Exxon-begins-commercial-production-in-Guyana-as-14928720.php
2019-12-24 00:39:30Z
52780515914948
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Exxon begins commercial production in Guyana as it makes another find - Houston Chronicle "
Post a Comment