Exxon hopeful Govt. will grant fifth production licence within two months

Mar 03, 2023 News

– Plans to proceed “full speed ahead”

Kaieteur News – ExxonMobil Guyana plans to proceed “full speed ahead” following the granting of its fifth Petroleum Production Licence (PPL), hopefully within two months by the Government of Guyana.

This disclosure was made by Exxon’s local subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), in-country Projects Manager, Anthony Jackson, during the final public disclosure meeting on its fifth project (Uaru Development), which was held at the Umana Yana in Kingston, Georgetown, on Wednesday.

EEPGL Projects Manager, Anthony Jackson

Exxon currently has four operations with regards to development in Guyana’s Stabroek Block namely: Liza I, II, Payara and Yellowtail.

The Uaru project is the oil major’s fifth project in the prolific Stabroek Block which has 11 billion proven barrels of oil. The Uaru field which holds over 1.3 billion barrels of oil is expected to cost Guyana over US$12B and is located in the Stabroek Block, a 26,800 km2 strategic basin located off Guyana’s continental shelf, where several important discoveries have been made since 2015.

Given that Exxon has already applied for an Environmental Permit for the project, a mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was conducted before Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can determine whether it will authorize the project.

On Wednesday, Jackson reiterated that the Uaru is Exxon’s fifth proposed project and explained that they have not been granted a PPL as yet by the Government to move ahead.

“That (production license) is going to be a part of the EIA and receiving environmental permit is part of that process and then we will engage with the government following the environmental permitting process…” Jackson said.

He continued, “Hopefully in the next month or two we will achieve the production licence for the Uaru development and we will proceed with the project full speed ahead.”

Kaieteur News had reported that the Uaru discovery involves two parts. In January 2020, ExxonMobil announced that Uaru-1 was their 16th discovery in the Stabroek Block. The well encountered approximately 94 feet (29 meters) of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir and was drilled in 6,342 feet (1,933 meters) of water.

ExxonMobil said last April that Uaru-2 added to the previously announced gross discovered recoverable resource estimate for the block, which is currently estimated to be approximately 9 billion oil-equivalent barrels.

Drilling at Uaru-2 encountered approximately 120 feet (36.7 meters) of high- quality -oil bearing reservoir and was drilled in 5,659 feet (1,725 meters) of water and is located approximately 6.8 miles (11 kilometers) south of the Uaru-1 well.

In January, this publication reported that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its December 2022 study emphasised that Guyana’s oil and gas industry is moving too fast for the country’s limited skilled workforce.

It was reported that while Guyana’s oil resources have placed it among the top petroleum producers in the world, the country’s lack of technical expertise and workforce capacity continue to be a bugbear.

In May 2022, the Government gave Exxon the green light when they issued a production license for Exxon’s fourth project (US$10B Yellowtail Development).  With Government persistent in accelerating the industry – the ILO reports states that such a move can end badly for Guyana.

Importantly, the deadline for the review of the Uaru Development Project EIA is on March 9, 2023. The document can be found using the following link: https://epaguyana.org/download/uaru-eia/

• Government, Guyana, Petroleum Production Licence (PPL), Uaru Development, Umana Yana