Guyana Officially Becomes Oil Exporter

The world’s newest oil frontier, Guyana, has officially shipped its very first batch of crude oil on Monday, according to TankerTrackers.com—a major oil-first for the South American country.

The first batch of oil—a million barrels of Liza sweet crude oil—is currently on a Suezmax tanker Yannis P headed for the United States, Tanker Trackers said. The Liza field is co-owned by Hess Corp (NYSE: HES), China’s CNOOC, and operator ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM)—who is the envy of all oil companies at the moment for 15 mouthwatering finds offshore Guyana.

The project has uncovered more than 6 billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas, although a more recent find earlier this month will increase that figure.

It is not yet known which of ExxonMobil’s US refineries the new crude will end up in.

All in all, ExxonMobil and its partners are expecting to produce at least 750,000 barrels per day within five years—a figure that if achieved would catapult Guyana into a serious global oil player.

Guyana’s most recent discovery courtesy of Exxon and Hess was from Mako-1, which is also in the Stabroek block.

Exxon’s quick success in Guyana has triggered an exploration campaign in neighboring Suriname, with a Total/Apache partnership striking oil right across the border just last week. The development brings hope to Suriname that it, too, could one day become an oil powerhouse.

HES stock has jumped from $51.87 a year ago, to $69.90 today, while XOM is trading down from $71.89 a year ago to $68.56 today. Meanwhile, Apache is trading nearly flat year over year.

Speaking of the landmark moment, Guyana’s Acting Prime Minister Khemraj Ramjattan called ExxonMobil “the bravest, the most technologically driven with a record of durability second to none in the industry.”

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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