Hess Corporation was pleased to announce this morning that its 30 percent stake in the Stabroek block allowed it to realize 19 000 barrels of sweet, light crude from the Liza Phase One project which commenced production in December 2019. This net production for the company occurred during the third quarter of 2020.
During that period as well, Hess noted that the operator, Exxonmobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), continued work to complete the commissioning of the natural gas injection system that should enable the Liza Destiny floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) to reach its capacity of 120,000 gross bopd in the fourth quarter. With regard to Phase Two of the Liza Field development which will utilize the Liza Unity FPSO with an expected capacity of 220,000 gross barrels of oil per day, Hess said this remains on target to achieve first oil by early 2022.
The corporation also noted that it had made the final investment decision to proceed with development of the Payara Field on the Stabroek Block after the development plan received approval from the government of Guyana. Guyana Standard would have reported that Payara will utilize the Prosperity FPSO, which will have the capacity to produce up to 220,000 gross barrels of oil per day and will target an estimated resource base of approximately 600 million barrels of oil. First oil is expected in 2024 and 10 drill centers are planned with a total of 41 wells, including 20 production wells and 21 injection wells. Excluding pre-sanction costs and FPSO purchase cost, Hess’ net share of development costs is forecast to be approximately US$1.8 billion.
At the Stabroek Block, the operator had announced discoveries at the Yellowtail-2 and Redtail-1 exploration wells. Yellowtail-2, the 17 th discovery on the Block, encountered approximately 69 feet of high quality oil bearing reservoirs adjacent to and below the Yellowtail-1 discovery. Redtail-1, the 18 th discovery on the Block, encountered approximately 232 feet of high quality oil bearing sandstone and is located 1.5 miles northwest of the Yellowtail discovery. The estimate of gross discovered recoverable resources on the Block has been increased to approximately 9 billion boe.
Following the completion of appraisal work at the Yellowtail-2 well, Guyana Standard understands that the Stena Carron drillship began drilling the Tanager-1 well on the Kaieteur Block, located 46 miles northwest of Liza in August. The Tanager-1 drilling operations are ongoing.
Additionally, the Noble Don Taylor drillship completed the drilling of the Redtail-1 well, and is currently drilling and completing Liza Phase Two development wells. The other two drillships, the Noble Bob Douglas and the Noble Tom Madden, are drilling and completing Liza Phase One and Phase Two development wells.
