Factbox: Offshore discoveries turn tiny Guyana into oil hotspot

CGX Energy

16/02/2022 17:58

Feb 16 (Reuters) - A string of offshore oil discoveries has
turned Guyana, a tiny South American country with fewer than
800,000 people, into one of the hottest exploration and
production frontiers in decades. 
    Since 2015, oil companies operating off its coast have found
more than 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas, a tenth
of the world's conventional discoveries. 
    A consortium with Exxon Mobil Corp  XOM.N , Hess Corp
 HES.N  and CNOOC Ltd  0883.HK  expect to produce 1 million
barrels of oil and gas per day by the end of the decade.
    Here are some of the key exploration areas, projects and
estimated output in Guyana: 
    
    BLOCKS: 
    - Stabroek block. A 6.6-million-acre (26,800 sq km) offshore
area controlled by Exxon, Hess and CNOOC, which have disclosed
more than 20 discoveries since 2015.  
    - Corentyne and Demerara blocks. A combined area of about
2.5 million acres being explored by Canadian-registered CGX
Energy  OYL.V  and Frontera Energy  FEC.TO . CGX said in early
2022 it found an oil and gas reservoir at Corentyne and would
concentrate efforts there while suspending planned drilling at
Demerara this year.
    
   PROJECTS: 
    - Liza 1. A development that began crude output in late 2019
and is producing up to 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) from its
Liza Destiny floating production vessel.
    - Liza 2. Began production in February and is expected to
reach up to 220,000 bpd at full capacity. It is using a new
production vessel, the Liza Unity that arrived in Guyanese
waters in 2021.  
    - Payara. A discovery disclosed in January 2017 with
start-up due in mid-2023 and first oil expected about six months
later. It will use a new production vessel, the Prosperity, that
would be able to pump up to 220,000 bpd. 
    - Yellowtail. The 13th discovery at the Stabroek block. Its
development plan calls for up to 67 wells and a fourth floating
facility able to produce up to 250,000 bpd. It would bring the
Exxon-led group's output to about 810,000 bpd. An environmental
license is pending to be issued by the government to green-light
the project.
    - Uaru. A fifth potential project at the Stabroek block. An
application to pursue it could be submitted to Guyana by
year-end. Its estimated output has not been disclosed, but Exxon
said  expected production surpasses 800,000 bpd by the end of
2025 and 1 million bpd by the end of the decade.  
     

 (Reporting by Gary McWilliams and Marianna Parraga
Editing by Marguerita Choy)
 ((Gary.McWilliams@thomsonreuters.com; +1 469-691-7668;))