Dear Editor,
There was good news for Guyana in ExxonMobil’s call report for the second quarter of 2019. Stabroek Block’s recoverable reserves was revised upwards from 5.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent to over 6 billion barrels of oil equivalent. This increase by five hundred million plus barrels deserves at least a high five for Guyana. It’s like a batsman quietly raising his score from 110 to 120, by making five twos in the over you went to the restroom. By my estimation, that increase in reserves is worth an additional six billion US dollars in cash to Guyana, over the life of the field.
Hess Corporation announced the revised upgrade earlier, based presumably, on the same information derived from managing operator, ExxonMobil. Hess’ future depends heavily on the performance of the Stabroek Block. After the Stabroek find was announced and it started to develop world class proportions, Hess sold its Permian Basin assets. My theory then was, that it was a move to get cash to fund its thirty percent share of the cost of bringing Liza 1 into production. I believe that the managers of Guyana’s oil sector should monitor Hess Corporation’s announcements, actions, behaviour, stock movements and SEC filings as a useful predictor of the financial future of the Stabroek Block. Hess’ future is much more closely aligned with and dependent on Guyana than anything else.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh
Midland, Texas
