Hess Corporation announces a ninth oil discovery offshore Guyana at the Hammerhead-1 well, marking its fifth oil discovery on the Stabroek Block in the past year and proving a new play concept for potential development.

Hammerhead-1 encountered approximately 197 feet (60 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir. The well was safely drilled to 13,862 feet (4,225 meters) depth in 3,373 feet (1,150 meters) of water. The Stena Carron drillship began drilling on July 27, 2018.

Image credit: Hess Corporation

“Hammerhead is another significant oil discovery that further demonstrates the tremendous prospectivity of the Stabroek Block, where we continue to see multi billion barrels of additional exploration potential,” CEO John Hesssaid. “This ninth discovery further enhances our potential to maximize value through rapid phased development.”

Hammerhead-1 is located approximately 13 miles (21 kilometers) southwest of the Liza-1 well and follows previous discoveries on the Stabroek Block at Liza, Liza Deep, Payara, Snoek, Turbot, Ranger, Pacora and Longtail. These previous discoveries are estimated to contain gross recoverable resources of more than 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent and have established the potential for up to five floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels producing over 750,000 barrels per day by 2025.

There is potential for additional production from significant undrilled targets and plans for accelerated exploration and appraisal drilling. A second exploration vessel, the Noble Tom Madden, is due to arrive in Guyana in October to accelerate exploration of high potential opportunities and will commence drilling at the Pluma prospect approximately 17 miles (27 kilometers) from Turbot.

Liza Phase 1, which is expected to begin producing oil by early 2020, will use the Liza Destiny FPSO to produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day. Construction of the FPSO and subsea equipment is well advanced. Pending government and regulatory approvals, Liza Phase 2 is targeted for sanctioning by the end of this year. It will use a second FPSO designed to produce up to 220,000 barrels per day and is expected to be producing by mid-2022. A third phase of development, at the Payara Field, is targeted for sanctioning in 2019 and will use an FPSO designed to produce approximately 180,000 barrels of oil per day, with first production as early as 2023.

The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers). Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds a 45 percent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds a 30 percent interest and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited holds a 25 percent interest.