Factbox: Offshore discoveries turn tiny Guyana into oil hotspot

Frontera Energy

23/10/2023 19:43

(Updates with details)
       Oct 23 (Reuters) - Chevron  CVX.N  has agreed to buy
smaller rival Hess  HES.N  in a $53 billion all-stock deal that
will help the oil major secure a foothold in oil-rich Guyana.
    The deal makes Chevron a partner with Exxon  XOM.N  in
Guyana's booming oilfields, which are expected to generate 1.2
million barrels of oil per day by 2027.
    Hess is part of a consortium, including Exxon Mobil Corp and
CNOOC  0883.HK , that operates in Guyana and has made more than
30 discoveries in the country's offshore waters since 2015.
Exxon had a 45% stake in the consortium with Hess owning 25% and
CNOOC having a 25% stake.
    Guyana received bids for eight out of the 14 offshore oil
and gas exploration blocks that it had offered in its first
auction, held in September.
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.
       
- Corentyne and Demerara blocks: A combined area of about 2.5
million acres were being explored by Canadian-registered CGX
Energy  OYL.V  and Frontera Energy  FEC.TO . In June 2022,
Frontera said it had come to a mutual agreement in principle
with Guyana to relinquish the Demerara block. 
    In Corentyne, the consortium has made oil discoveries in
Wei-1 and Kawa-1 wells. The partners are conducting an analysis
of the Wei-1 well before deciding whether to upgrade an
exploration license to its development phase, Frontera said in
August this year.
    
PROJECTS:
 
- Liza 1: A development that began crude output in late 2019 and
has a production capacity of up to 150,000 barrels per day (bpd)
from its Liza Destiny floating production vessel.
    
- Liza 2: Began production in early 2022 and can produce up to
250,000 bpd at full capacity. It is using a production vessel
called the Liza Unity that arrived in Guyanese waters in 2021.
    
- Payara: A discovery disclosed in January 2017 with first oil
expected early in the fourth quarter, estimated to add 15,000
barrels of oil per day initially. It will use a new production
vessel, the Prosperity, that would be able to pump up to 220,000
bpd. 
    
- Yellowtail: The consortium plans to spend $10 billion to
develop Yellowtail, the 13th discovery at the Stabroek block,
and use the vessel One Guyana to produce up to 250,000 bpd at
the project. First oil is expected in 2025. 
    
- Uaru: The fifth project at the Stabroek block has already been
sanctioned with the Exxon-led consortium expecting to spend
$12.7 billion on the project. A vessel named Errea Wittu would
produce oil there with a production capacity of 250,000 bpd.
First oil is expected in 2026 and would put the consortium's
total production in Guyana above 1 million bpd.  
    
- Whiptail: A sixth project where Exxon and partners expect to
spend $12.9 billion. The consortium has already submitted its
development plan for the project to Guyana and expects to drill 
up to 72 wells with development drilling scheduled from late
2024 through mid-2030.     


 (Reporting by Gary McWilliams, Marianna Parraga, and Seher
Dareen and Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika
Syamnath)
 ((Seher.Dareen@thomsonreuters.com; If in India call +91 74832
70128, if within U.S. call +1 646 223 8780;))