Exxon Sanctions Hammerhead Project Offshore Guyana

Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--By making a final investment decision for the seventh development off the coast of Guyana, Exxon Mobil Corporation (Spring, Texas) said Tuesday that it expects total regional production to reach 1.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Exxon sanctioned the Hammerhead development after receiving regulatory approval from Guyana's government. This is the seventh prospect in the lucrative Stabroek block, with production expected at around 150,000 barrels of oil per day (BBL/d).

"We continue to set a new standard in Guyana -- advancing an impressive seventh project just 10 years after first discovery," said Dan Ammann, the president of Exxon's upstream division.

Hammerhead will use a floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) for the development, which would bring total Stabroek output to 1.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d).

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project and Plant databases can learn more about Hammerhead by viewing a related project report and plant profile.

Exxon recently brought the Yellowtail prospect offshore Guyana online after the FPSO One Guyana arrived in early April. Boasting storage capacity of 2 million barrels of oil and production of 250,000 Boe/d, Exxon said it would market the crude oil delivered from Guyana as Golden Arrowhead, joining the queue of global benchmarks such as Brent and Dubai.

Subscribers can learn more about Yellowtail here.

All told, the company believes it will be churning out around 900,000 BBL/d from Guyana by the end of the year. Production is slated to begin in 2029.

That supports general production gains from countries not party to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The International Energy Agency (IEA) said earlier this month that non-OPEC suppliers are expected to account for about 65% of production growth this year and another 50% by next year.

Much of the anticipated growth comes from the United States, Brazil, Canada, Guyana and Argentina, with the IEA finding output from non-OPEC suppliers at or near all-time highs.

Guyana is complex both in terms of geopolitics and business deals. Oil-rich Venezuela, which borders to the west, claims parts of Guyana as its own and bilateral tensions are high at times. Venezuelan forces marched on the Guyanese border last year. U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed successful military strikes, meanwhile, on suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers.

The $53 billion merger between Chevron (Houston, Texas) and Hess added another layer of complexity. The International Chamber of Commerce ruled in favor of Chevron in June, giving Exxon's rival access to the more than 1 billion barrels of discoverable oil-equivalent in the Stabroek formation.

Exxon said total second-quarter production reached 4.6 million BOE/d, its best performance in 25 years. Further success could come from the construction of the Uara and Whiptail projects offshore Guyana, with both expected to come online before the end of the decade.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).