Hess Has Decided on a New Field in Guyana
Has Hess decided to wrest Whiptail from Exxon?
Hess has received approval for its sixth project in the Stabroek block, Whiptail, offshore Guyana. She enlisted the support of the country’s authorities. Already at the end of 2027, Whiptail’s capacity should increase by 250 thousand b/d.
Resources at Whiptail are 850 million barrels of oil; the oil production project will include up to 10 drilling centers and 48 wells. A floating oil production and storage vessel is already being built for the field.
It is curious that earlier in April it became known that ExxonMobil wanted to invest $12.7 billion in Whiptail. However, the Hess message included the same amount of investment, but permission for ExxonMobil Guyana Limited was not reported. Let us remind you that the operator of Stabroek is precisely the structure of the American Exxon, in addition, it owns 45% of the shares. Hess’s share is 30%.
At the same time, back in March, the oil and gas community was discussing a major scandal, namely the lawsuit by ExxonMobil and the Chinese CNOOC against Chevron. The latter decided to buy Hess, of course, receiving a share in the company’s assets in Guyana without discussing this issue with other participants in the project. Exxon believes it has preemptive rights to buy out Hess’s 30 percent stake in the Guyanese assets, but Chevron says such rights do not apply to mergers and acquisitions.
The Stabroek block operates three fields with a capacity of 640 thousand b/d of oil: two phases of the Liza field and the Payara field. Two more fields, Yellowtail and Uaru, are being developed; oil production from them should begin next year and two years later. Once Whiptail is commissioned, total production from the block will be 1.3 million bpd.
