GEORGETOWN, Guyana, May 08 2015 – The exploration for oil off the coast of Guyana, is showing signs of promise, although it is still too early to confirm if there are commercial quantities.
Natural Resources Minister Robert Persaud said the Esso exploration well, located approximately 120 miles offshore Guyana in the Atlantic Ocean, has encountered hydrocarbons.
He added that a full evaluation of the results is underway from the exploration company.
Persaud said he remains optimistic of a hydrocarbon discovery of commercial quantities, which will further transform Guyana’s economy for the benefit of all Guyanese.
The US-based ExxonMobil, the largest public trading international company in the world started exploration of Guyana’s offshore in March as part of a US$200 million project.
The project is taking place despite a warning by Venezuela not to search for oil in a maritime area that it claims as its own.
But the Foreign Ministry here has warned Caracas against any action to prevent the oilrig, Deepwater Champion, from carrying out its work in an area.
The total area allotted to Exxon for exploration covers 26, 806 square kilometers. The company is drilling at a depth of 1750 meters.
Guyana has been receiving a lot of international attention with the US Geological Survey noting that the Guyana-Suriname Basin has the second largest unexplored oil potential in the world after Greenland.
Guyana first struck oil in the 1980s in the Takutu Basin.
