Guyana’s oil discoveries second only to Russia – Rystad Energy
(Kaieteur News) Pull quote: Though Russia’s discoveries are great in volume…it (extraction) is likely to be very costly. In Guyana’s case, however, the light crude makes Guyana one of the most attractive destinations because the cost to extract places the breakeven price of the oil in the Stabroek Block among the lowest in the world.
Guyana’s oil and gas discoveries for the year 2019 have been found by Rystad Energy to be second only to Russia’s in volume.
IHS Markit, a London-based global information provider has found that conventional oil and gas discoveries in the past three years are assessed as being the lowest levels in the past 70 years.
Though that’s the case for conventional discoveries, several countries have managed to make major unconventional discoveries amounting to considerable volumes. This year, almost 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent have been discovered, compared to 10 billion last year, according to Julianne Geiger, a researcher for OilPrice.
Russia, in the top spot, boasts 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, after having made successful Dinkov and Nyarmeyskoye finds on the country’s Yamal peninsula shelf in the Kara sea. But Geiger wrote that though Russia’s discoveries are great in volume, extraction may be another issue entirely for the European nation, since it is likely to be very costly.
In Guyana’s case, however, the light crude makes Guyana one of the most attractive destinations because the cost to extract places the breakeven price of the oil in the Stabroek Block among the lowest in the world. That means that Guyana’s oil could be sold at a very low price, and the operators would still make a considerable profit.
Up until a few days ago, Guyana was alone in second place. But a Monday discovery by BP off the coast of Mauritania placed the African state in a tie with Guyana.
The country’s Orca-1 well, in the MSGBC (Mauritania-Senegal-Gambia-Bissau-Conakry) basin is estimated to hold about 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent, according to Rystad Energy.
In Guyana, the three discoveries happening this year are the last set of 16 discoveries in Guyana so far. They were made in the Tripletail-1 well by ExxonMobil in the Stabroek Block, and in the Jethro-1 and Joe-1 wells of the Orinduik Block by Tullow. Those discoveries show the monumental potential of Guyana. It has been estimated that Guyana could be producing 750,000 barrels of oil per day. That’s one barrel per capita per day.
Guyana is the place to be.
