ExxonMobil makes Liza find official

ExxonMobil has officially labelled the Liza discovery offshore Guyana a commercial oil find, marking the first-such event for the country in 50 years.

According to Guyana’s Government Information Agency late on Wednesday, the notice came in the form of a letter addressed to Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman, who called the news a “profound and watershed moment” for the country. He said that the ministry and the the government of Prime Minister David Granger were looking forward to reviewing the field development plan.

Additional appraisal drilling over the past months by Exxon and partners Hess and Nexen, a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, has raised the recoverable oil estimate to between 1 billion and 1.4 billion barrels. When the find was confirmed back in June, the figure was in the range of 800 million to 1.4 billion barrels.

“What you are seeing today, is the beginning of a very large effort which will unfold over the next few years as we finalise our plans, and implement them, trying to develop this field,” ExxonMobil Vice-President Erik Oswald said.

Trotman said that the government is confident that the companies involved in the project are committed to “move to production in the earliest possible time.” Exxon has said the work programme for 2017 will mostly entail exploration drilling. The partners have also stated their intention to have a 100,000-bpd floating production, storage and offloading vessel in place by 2020.