An offshore oil find near Guyana by Exxon Mobil could yield double the anticipated production, according to a statement from the company cited by Reuters on 30 June.
The Texas-based producer believes the Liza field located 120 miles off the Guyanese coast could hold between 800 million to 1.4 billion barrels of crude oil. Labeled by the firm as a "world-class discovery", Liza could be with a worth some US$70 billion based on current prices.
Exxon saw signs the field was massive as early as May 2015, after logging data and rock chips from the initial exploratory well showed indications of a large presence of crude, the company said in an entry on its Energy Factor blog. Since Liza is a deep-water site, production may not be realized for another decade or so, though Exxon is very proud of the discovery.
"This exploration success demonstrates the strength of our long-term investment approach, as well as our technology leadership in ultra, deepwater environments," Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Co., said in the statement.
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As oilprice.com mentioned on 26 June, Exxon's finds off the Guyanese coast including the Liza site could pay big dividends for the company hampered by increased exploration failures and less funds for seeking new energy locations. In addition, the recent finds could be a boon for a Guyana, a state that doesn't currently produce any oil and gas but whose economy would benefit from a new revenue source.
One of Exxon's partners on Liza field, Hess, could see their current proved reserves jump by as much as 39 percent and their stake in Liza could yield a high of 420 million barrels of oil.
Hess is "very encouraged by the drilling results to date of the Liza prospect, which we believe has the potential to materially contribute to our resource base and future production growth," Chief Executive Officer John Hess said in the statement.
By Erwin Cifuentes for Oilprice.com
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Erwin Cifuentes is a Contributing Editor for Southern Pulse Info where he focuses on politics, economics and security issues in Latin America and the Caribbean.… More