Payara

Payara Oil Project Profile

Location and Discovery

The Payara oil field is located in the Stabroek Block, approximately 200 kilometers offshore Guyana, in water depths of about 1,900 meters (6,300 feet).

The Payara field was discovered by the Payara-1 well in January 2017. This well, drilled by the Stena Carron drillship, encountered 95 feet (29 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs at a depth of 18,080 feet (5,512 meters) in 6,660 feet (2,030 meters) of water. The discovery is the second significant oil find in the Stabroek Block, following the Liza field.

Project Partners and Ownership

The Payara project is operated by Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil, which holds a 45% stake in the Stabroek Block. Other partners include Hess Guyana Exploration, a subsidiary of Hess Corporation, with a 30% stake, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana, a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), with a 25% stake.

Development Plan

The Payara field development involves several key components:

• Wells and Drill Centers: The project includes the drilling of 41 wells, comprising 20 production wells and 21 injection wells, from up to ten drill centers.
• FPSO Vessel: The production will be facilitated by the Prosperity floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel. This FPSO has a processing capacity of 220,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), a gas treatment capacity of 400 million cubic feet per day (mcf/d), and a water injection capacity of 250,000 bpd. The vessel also has a crude oil storage capacity of approximately 2 million barrels and is moored using a SOFEC spread mooring system.
• Subsea System: The project includes a subsea system with subsea trees, umbilicals, risers, and flowlines. Saipem was contracted for the installation of these subsea components, including manifolds, flexible and rigid risers, and approximately 130 kilometers of flowlines.

Production and Capacity

• Production Start: The Payara project commenced production in November 2023, with production expected to build up to 220,000 barrels of oil per day by 2024 as more wells come online.
• Total Block Production: By 2024, the total daily production from the Stabroek Block, including the Liza Phase 1 and 2 projects, is expected to reach approximately 620,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Investment and Economic Impact

The total investment in the Payara project is estimated to be approximately $9 billion. This investment is part of the broader development of the Stabroek Block, which is expected to significantly contribute to Guyana's economic growth.

Resource Base

The Payara field is estimated to have gross recoverable resources of 600 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mboe). The Stabroek Block as a whole is estimated to contain gross discovered recoverable resources of approximately 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent, as of April 2022.

Future Developments

In addition to the Payara project, the Stabroek Block is set to see further developments, including the Yellowtail and Uaru projects, each with a production capacity of about 250,000 bpd. There are plans for up to six FPSOs to be online on the Stabroek Block by the end of 2027, with potential for up to 10 FPSOs based on recent discoveries.