Guyana makes its seventh oil discovery

English-speaking country Guyana often considered part of the Caribbean region may soon become the biggest oil producer in the Western Hemisphere as it continues to make some of the biggest oil finds.

On Tuesday, February 27, Raphael Trotman, the country’s Minister of Natural Resources announced that a seventh oil find has been made by oil giant ExxonMobil.

Previous discoveries were made on the Stabroek block at Liza, Payara, Liza Deep, Snoek, Turbot and Ranger but the latest one was found at the Pacora-1 well located approximately four miles west of the Payara-1 well in the Stabroek block.

“More details of this latest discovery which has occurred within the last 48 hours will be shared with the nation as we continue to have an aggressive programme of exploration and as we proceed towards production in 2020,” the Minister was quoted by regional media portal, Caribbean 360.

“To date, we have overseen the drilling of seven wells by Exxon, six of which have borne fruit in that they have proven good. One has not, but we have so far an excellent record and I would like to congratulate the crew of the Stena Carron drillship that has done 90 percent of the discoveries without a day lost or any injuries or any man hour lost and that is commendable,” he added.

Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil, is optimistic that the latest discovery will boost their confidence in developing the Stabroek Block, adding that “Pacora will be developed in conjunction with the giant Payara field and, along with other phases, will help bring Guyana production to more than 500,000 barrels per day.”

Meanwhile, Guyana will in six months have a Department of Energy which will oversee the oil and gas sector in the country. Trotman will head a task force which would involve other ministers. Their role is to formulate a proposal for the development of the mandate of the Department of Energy. They must also come up with ways on how the Department will be staffed and structured.

Guyana grabbed the attention of the world in May last year when ExxonMobil discovered more than 90 meters of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs about 120 miles off its coastline.