Hess announces new oil discovery offshore Guyana
Hess Corporation announced positive results from the Payara-1 well offshore Guyana, which is the second oil discovery on the Stabroek Block following the world-class Liza oil discovery in 2015.
Payara-1 Discovery
The Payara-1 well, located approximately 10 miles (16 kilometers) northwest of the Liza discovery, was drilled by Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, and encountered more than 95 feet (29 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs. The well was safely drilled to a depth of 18,080 feet (5,512 meters) in 6,660 feet (2,030 meters) of water.
Drilling on Payara began on Nov. 12 with initial total depth reached on Dec. 2. Two sidetracks were subsequently drilled, and a production test is planned to further evaluate the discovery. Appraisal drilling is planned beginning later this year to determine the full resource potential of the Payara discovery.
Deeper High-Quality Reserves Identified Below Liza Field
In addition to the Payara discovery, the Liza-3 appraisal well, which was completed in November 2016, identified an additional high quality, deeper reservoir directly below the Liza Field, which is estimated to contain between 100-150 million barrels of oil equivalent. This additional resource is expected to be developed in conjunction with the Liza discovery.
“The Payara-1 results further demonstrate the prospectivity of the Stabroek block,” John Hess, CEO of Hess Corporation, said. “We are excited about Payara as well as the deeper reservoir identified below the Liza Field. While further appraisal is required, we believe that the resources recently discovered are significant and will be accretive to the more than 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent already confirmed at the Liza discovery.”
Further Evaluation of the Stabroek Block
The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers). Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds 45 percent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Limited holds 30 percent interest and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25 percent interest.
The co-venture partners plan to appraise the Liza and Payara discoveries and continue to evaluate the resource potential on the broader Stabroek block with additional exploration drilling and seismic analysis planned for 2017. Upon completion of operations on the Payara-1 well, the Stena Carron drillship will move to the Snoek exploration prospect, which is located approximately 6 miles (10 kilometers) south of the Liza-1 discovery well.