ExxonMobil announces new discovery at Longtail-3 offshore Guyana
IRVING, Texas – ExxonMobil today said it made a discovery at Longtail-3 in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana. Drilling at Longtail-3 encountered 230 feet (70 meters) of net pay, including newly identified, high quality hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs below the original Longtail-1 discovery intervals.
The well is located approximately two miles (3.5 kilometers) south of the Longtail-1 well. It was drilled in more than 6,100 feet (1860 meters) of water by the Stena DrillMAX.
ExxonMobil announces new discovery at Longtail-3 offshore Guyana
- Two drillships added in first quarter 2021;
- Six drillships now operating offshore Guyana
- Additional drilling activity to support Stabroek development
- More than 2,600 Guyanese supporting overall activities
“Longtail-3, combined with our recent discovery at Uaru-2, has the potential to increase our resource estimate within the Stabroek block, demonstrating further growth of this world-class resource and our high-potential development opportunities offshore Guyana,” said Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil. “We will continue to leverage our core competitive advantages in our ongoing exploration campaign, delivering substantial value to the Guyanese people, our partners and shareholders.”
The Longtail-1 discovery in the Stabroek Block was drilled in 2018, encountering approximately 256 feet (78 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir.
ExxonMobil has deployed two additional drillships in the first quarter of 2021; the Stena DrillMAX and the Noble Sam Croft to enable further exploration and evaluation, while continuing development drilling activities offshore Guyana. As the company advances its 15-well campaign in the Stabroek block, DrillMAX will move to Whiptail-1, while the Noble Sam Croft supports development drilling for Liza Phase 2.
In other drilling activity in the Stabroek Block, the Mako-2 evaluation well confirmed the quality, thickness and areal extent of the reservoir. When integrated with the previously announced discovery at Uaru-2, the data supports a potential fifth floating production storage and offloading vessel in the area east of the Liza complex. The Koebi-1 exploration well in the Stabroek block has shown evidence of non-commercial hydrocarbons.
By the first quarter of this year more than 2,600 Guyanese and 600 local suppliers were supporting ExxonMobil’s activities in country. Guyanese staff have completed more than 40,000 hours of training in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States.
The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers). ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds 45 percent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 percent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds 25 percent interest.
A&V Oil wins arbitration against Petrotrin
In this 2017 file photo, A&V Oil owner Nazim Baksh, right, with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley during a tour of flood affected areas in Penal. – Prime Minister with A&V Oil owner Nazim Baksh, right, in Penal.
A&V Oil may benefit from payment by Petrotrin for failure to honour outstanding bills on the premise that invoices were submitted for oil it never supplied after winning its case against the defunct SOC. It will receive $84 million held in escrow to settle an unpaid invoice for crude oil it supplied and damages which could bring the total sum owed to the operator to $1 billion.
In a unanimous decision, arbiters Sir Dennis Byron, former president of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and chair of the arbitration panel, Lord David Hope and retired CCJ judge Humphrey Stollmeyer, ruled that A&V Oil was entitled to payment by Petrotrin which failed to establish A&V engaged in seal tampering or any inappropriate practices in the process of delivering crude oil.
They also held that Petrotrin did not have reasonable grounds for suspecting misconduct and A&V was entitled to compensation for wrongful termination of the agreement. They dismissed Petrotrin’s counter-claim and held that the company did not have reasonable grounds for suspecting A&V engaged in fraudulent activity.
A&V’s lead attorney, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, referred to Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar public accusation of A&V Oil supplying fake oil to Petrotrin, permitted because the lease operator’s owner Nazim Baksh was a friend of Dr Rowley. Persad-Bissessar used an incomplete audit for her claims and he informed Petrotrin the allegations were false. Petrotrin ignored his letter and appointed foreign companies, Kroll Consulting Canada Co and Gaffney, Cline & Associates of the United Kingdom to conduct audits.
Petrotrin hired Kroll to conduct a forensic audit based on a report by its internal audit department on its exploration and production operations for January to July, 2018. The audit department found the lease operator overstated its production capacity and supplies for which Petrotrin paid an estimated US$8 million. Kroll confirmed the Petrotrin audit report which Gaffney Cline corroborated, stating that the Catshill reservoir was not capable of producing the volumes claimed by A&V.
Maharaj said he warned if Petrotrin carried out the threat to terminate its contract with A&V, “it would be a reckless act and taxpayers would have to pay millions in legal fees to have an arbitration because A&V would be able to recover all expenses. Petrotrin has no evidence to support what the leader of the opposition said and ignored all representations made to it, did not consult with us and terminated the contract.”
Maharaj said it was important that the public knew of the arbitration ruling and wants the Government to have it laid in Parliament as part of the public record since taxpayers dollars “were spent in a reckless manner.”
He said Persad-Bissessar had a duty to apologise to A&V Oil and Baksh.
“This is not an issue which should be buried in silence…It must be open and transparent for the public to examine it and taxpayers to know how their money is to be spent and if more will be spent in appeals.’
Baksh says he wants justice. Maharaj will say more on the ruling once he reads the decision himself. Petrotrin terminated the operator’s contract on December 22, 2017 to protect its interest. The Privy Council denied A&V permission to appeal a previous ruling in the local court of appeal that allowed Petrotrin to terminate the contract, which included the SOC taking possession of A&V’s assets.