Offshore exploration heats up in Guyana

Production from the Liza project is ramping up, but operators still have plenty of exploration options ahead

Momentum in emerging oil producer Guyana—Latin America’s leading exploration hotspot over the past five years—shows no sign of slowing this year. ExxonMobil has announced several new finds and other IOCs boast a flurry of drill targets. The Stabroek block has been central to Guyana’s upstream success. In early June, drilling at the Longtail-3 prospect lifted the block’s tally of major hydrocarbons discoveries to 20. The latest well encountered a high-quality reservoir beneath the Longtail-1 find, a strong indicator of significant volumes at lower depths than previously drilled. And ExxonMobil has further drill targets in the basin this year. The US major is drilling the Jabillo-1 prospect in