Little Guyana, a country of 800,000 inhabitants, has become the great promise of world oil. His short story in the world of oil is similar to that of a promising young footballer who, although small, thin and weak, ends up triumphing thanks to his great skill with the ball. Guyana was a small countrypoor and geographically far from the major centers of global crude oil consumption. However, the landing of ExxonMobil on its shores and the good work of the country’s government give birth to a miracle that continues to surprise as more data becomes known.
The American company Exxon Mobil celebrated this Wednesday having reached the production of 500 barrels of oil on the Stabroek block, off the coast of Guyana. That is to say, this small country whose population represents 0.01% of the total world population, has already managed to extract enough crude oil feed the consumption of 8 billion inhabitants for five days. The most impressive thing is that in Guyana, oil production began “four days ago”. Oil was not extracted at a commercial level until December 2019.
“Our success lies in developing Guyana’s petroleum resources at a pace, cost and environmental performance unprecedented in the industry and is based on close collaboration with the Government of Guyana, as well as our partners, suppliers and entrepreneurs,” he said in a statement. statement by ExxonMobil Guyana Chairman, Alistair Routledge.
A great investment
The document, published by the oil company and its block partners Stabroek, Hess and CNOOC, highlights their long-term commitment to Guyana and their desire to continue working for the country. The three companies said they have committed nearly $55 billion to develop six projects authorized by the Guyanese government in the Stabroek Block.
Likewise, they clarified that the first three projects – Liza Phase 1, Liza Phase 2 and Payara – produce on average more than 650,000 barrels of oil per day. “Production capacity is expected to increase to over 1.3 million barrels of oil per day by the end of 2027, when the ExxonMobil Guyana-led consortium plans to launch the six offshore projects,” it said. the press release.
“Since first production in December 2019, more than $5.4 billion in oil revenues and royalties have been paid into the Guyana Natural Resources Fund. More than 6,000 Guyanese support Stabroek operations, or nearly 70% of the local industry workforce“, added the document.
The benefits of ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil, the oil company that exploits Guyana’s treasures, is gradually increasing its deepwater production to an average of 660,000 barrels per day (bpd). Liza Blocks 1 and 2 averaged around 160,000 b/d and 251,000 b/d, while Payara averaged 249,000 b/d, all belonging to the giant Stabroek block. These production levels resulted in pumping of nearly 19.79 million barrels in Septemberthe highest monthly production in its history.
During the first three quarters of 2024, ExxonMobil produced more than 165 million barrels of crude oil at an average rate of 604,000 b/d on the Stabroek block. All projects produced above their planned targets, thanks to the success of decongestion activities. Liza 1 and 2 averaged 146,000 b/d and 227,000 b/d, while Payara averaged 231,000 b/d.
ExxonMobil continues to perform additional optimization work on the Liza 2 project since its partial closure in July. The company is expected to increase production in this block after getting the regulatory green light.. The government projects that production in 2024 will reach around 228 million barrels per day. This requires average production of 680,000 b/d in the fourth quarter, a new record.
It doesn’t stop there. Next year, Exxon is expected to bring the Yellowtail project online, increasing production capacity to more than 900,000 barrels per day (bpd). Guyana’s oil boom is unprecedented. All predictions made by experts on future production levels are being exceeded by ExxonMobil thanks to the investment in innovation and the permissiveness of the Government of Guyana to operate in the vast domain of the country.
Guyana has experienced an economic revolution since the discovery of oil off its coast in 2015, with reserves of more than 11 billion barrels, becoming the country with the highest economic growth in the world (with a projection by 26.6% in 2024).
