Introduction
Today’s column continues my exploration of Guyana’s world class offshore petroleum discoveries located mainly in the Stabroek Block, and under operational control of ExxonMobil and its partners. Two other joint venture groups (JVs) have been acknowledged as being on the cusp of production, but their reported discoveries give cause for considerable uncertainty on this score.
Way back in 2016, when Exxon and its partners’ reported discoveries were less than one billion barrels of oil equivalent (BoE), I was predicting Guyana’s discoveries would eventually reach 13-15 billion BoE. That prediction is not based on “guesswork”, “gut feelings”, or indeed “intuition”. It depends on two lines of reasoning, flowing from my research into Guyana’s petroleum in 2015. The first of these was presented in last week’s column—that is the “Atlantic mirror image” geological principle. The second reasoning is derived from two United States Geological Service (USGS) Fact Sheets, released in 2000 and 2012.
