Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) today announced two new discoveries at the Seabob-1 and Kiru-Kiru-1 wells on the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana. The discoveries, which are the sixth and seventh this year, will add to the block’s previously announced gross discovered recoverable resource estimate of approximately 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
The Seabob-1 well encountered approximately 131 feet (40 meters) of high quality oil bearing sandstone reservoirs. The well was drilled in 4,660 feet (1,421 meters) of water by the Stena Carron and is located approximately 12 miles (19 kilometers) southeast of the Yellowtail Field.
The Kiru-Kiru-1 well encountered approximately 98 feet (30 meters) of high quality hydrocarbon bearing sandstone reservoirs. The well was drilled in 5,760 feet (1,756 meters) of water by the Stena DrillMAX and is located approximately 3 miles (5 kilometers) southeast of the Cataback-1 discovery. Drilling operations at Kiru-Kiru are ongoing.
“We are excited to announce two more discoveries on the Stabroek Block, bringing our total this year to seven,” CEO John Hess said. “These discoveries will add to the discovered recoverable resource estimate for the block of approximately 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent, and we continue to see multibillion barrels of future exploration potential remaining.”
Hess and its co-venture partners currently have four sanctioned developments on the Stabroek Block. The Liza Phase 1 development, which began production in December 2019, reached its new production capacity of more than 140,000 gross barrels of oil per day in the second quarter of 2022 following production optimization work on the Liza Destiny floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO). The Liza Phase 2 development, which achieved first oil in February 2022 utilizing the Liza Unity FPSO, reached its production capacity of approximately 220,000 gross barrels of oil per day earlier this month. The third development at Payara is on track to come online in late 2023 utilizing the Prosperity FPSO with a production capacity of approximately 220,000 gross barrels of oil per day. The fourth development, Yellowtail, will be the largest development to date and is expected to come online in 2025, utilizing the ONE GUYANA FPSO with a production capacity of approximately 250,000 gross barrels of oil per day.
At least six FPSOs with a production capacity of more than 1 million gross barrels of oil per day are expected to be online on the Stabroek Block in 2027, with the potential for up to 10 FPSOs to develop gross discovered recoverable resources.
The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres. 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 holds 25 percent interest.