Exxon Mobil Corp. and partners Hess Corp. and CNOOC Ltd. have added to the estimated recoverable resource of more than 6 billion barrels of oil equivalent on Guyana’s offshore Stabroek Block with another oil discovery.

Drilled in 2,003 m (6,572 ft) of water by the Noble Tom Madden drillship, the Tripletail-1 well hit about 33 m (108 ft) of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir, Exxon Mobil said in a news release on Sept. 16.

The discovery, located in the Turbot area, is the 14th discovery announced by Exxon Mobil and partners on the 26,800-sq-km block. It follows the Yellowtail discovery, making it the sixth find in the Turbot area and boosting the area’s potential to become a major development hub.

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“This discovery helps to further inform the development of the Turbot area,” Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil, said in a news release. “Together with our partners, ExxonMobil is deploying industry-leading capabilities to identify projects that can be developed efficiently and in a cost-effective way.”

In a separate news release, partner Hess said the Noble Tom Madden drillship will move about 10 km (6 miles) east of the Liza Field to drill the Uaru-1 well following completion work at Tripletail.

The Stena Carron drillship is drilling the Ranger-2 well, and plans are for it to return to Yellowtail-1 for a well test following its Ranger-2 work.

Development work also continues for Liza Phase 1 where the Noble Bob Douglas drillship is wrapping up development drilling, Hess said in the release.

“ExxonMobil will add a fourth drillship, the Noble Don Taylor, in October 2019 as we continue to optimize our drilling plans based on well results and ongoing study of the basin,” Exxon said.

The companies also said Liza Phase 1, sanctioned in 2017, is on track for startup by early 2020, producing up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day using the Liza Destiny FPSO. The development plan includes four drill centers with 17 wells, including eight producers, six water injectors and three gas injectors.

The larger $6 billion Liza Phase 2, sanctioned in May, will use the Liza Unity FPSO to produce up to 220,000 bbl/d. The anticipated startup is mid-2022. Development plans includes six drill centers along with about 30 wells.

“Pending government approvals, a third development, Payara could startup as early as 2023 and production would reach an estimated 220,000 gross barrels of oil per day,” the companies said.

Offshore