圭亚那可能超过巴西成为南美洲最大石油生产国

得益于大量的重大石油发现，圭亚那的石油工业正在蓬勃发展 

埃克森美孚公司正在引领这一新的石油前沿  

这个国家将成为全球一个主要石油出口国，其石油产量将远远超过国内需求

据美国油价网6月14日报道，全球能源巨头埃克森美孚公司及其合作伙伴赫斯公司在圭亚那近海获得了数量惊人的高质量石油发现。今年4月，埃克森美孚公司宣布在面积达660万英亩的斯塔布鲁克区块又获得了3个新的石油发现。埃克森美孚公司拥有斯塔布鲁克区块45%的权益，赫斯公司拥有30%的权益。

这3个石油发现是在Barreleye-1井、Patwa-1井和Lukanani-1井中获得的，这些发现井都位于丽莎油田和帕拉亚开发项目的东部。至此，今年在圭亚那近海获得的石油发现数量达到了5个，自2015年以来在斯塔布鲁克区块共获得了至少31个石油发现。埃克森美孚公司估计，这些最新石油发现使其在斯塔布鲁克区块的可开采石油资源达到110亿桶。这是过去20年来世界上最大的石油发现。

在圭亚那近海发现的石油资源不仅限于埃克森公司牵头的国际财团在斯塔布鲁克区块的作业，世界其他能源公司也报告了类似优质的石油发现。今年1月份，加拿大钻井公司弗龙特拉能源公司 （哥伦比亚第三大石油生产商）与合作伙伴CGX 能源公司 （弗龙特拉能源公司是其控股股东）宣布在Corentyne区块发现石油。Kawa-1井位于该区块的北端，深达21578英尺（6577米），在钻进过程中钻遇了177英尺（54米）厚的含油气储集层。随后，在今年5月的媒体发布会上，弗龙特拉能源公司表示，在Kawa-1进行了额外的钻探作业，发现了额外的51英尺或15米厚的纯产层，并在69米的范围内发现了多个含油气层。这家加拿大中等规模上游石油生产商计划在今年第三季度在位于Corentyne区块的Kawa-1井西北14公里处开钻Wei-1初探井。

业内人士称，Corentyne区块的北端包含着穿过斯塔布鲁克区块到苏里南近海第58号区块的同一条油道。据弗龙特拉能源公司称，在Corentyne区块发现的地质情况与海上苏里南第58号区块的地质情况相当，在该区块中，担任运营商的道达尔能源公司和拥有50%股份的合作伙伴阿帕奇公司已经获得了5个优质石油发现。这些数字加上明显的迹象表明，圭亚那-苏里南盆地的石油潜力大大超过了美国地质调查局（USGS）在2001年5月估计的未发现石油资源约152.5亿桶的平均值。赫斯公司首席执行官约翰·赫斯在今年6月初表示，他相信在钻取更深井的时候，斯塔布鲁克区块将会发现更多的大型油气田。到目前为止，在斯塔布鲁克区块的31个发现中，大多数都位于约15000英尺（4572米）的深度，但今年早些时候完成的Fangtooth-1井在钻探1.8万英尺后，发现了164英尺（50米）厚的优质含油储集层。这表明，由埃克森美孚公司牵头的国际财团在斯塔布鲁克区块发现的110亿桶可开采石油资源很可能是一个开始，当钻取深度更深的井时，还会有更大规模的发现。

由于这些原因，能源行业内部人士认为，美国地质调查局在2001年的评估中严重低估了圭亚那-苏里南盆地的可发现石油资源。美国政府机构表示，圭亚那-苏里南盆地的未探明石油储量为28亿—326亿桶，远远低于埃克森美孚在斯塔布鲁克区块发现的储量。这些进展表明，迫切需要重新评价圭亚那-苏里南盆地的石油潜力。美国地质调查局原计划在2020年重新评估圭亚那-苏里南盆地，但这一计划因疫情而推迟。圭亚那海上蕴藏的巨大石油潜力表明，这个国家最终可能拥有比邻国巴西更多的石油储量。巴西监管机构国家碳氢化合物局宣布，到去年年底，巴西已探明石油储量为132.4亿桶。

根据赫斯公司的说法，斯塔布鲁克区块的开发仍在快速进行。虽然行业分析师曾在2020年预测，到2027年前圭亚那的原油日产量将达到120万桶，但根据最新的发展情况，各种迹象表明，到那时圭亚那的原油产量将远高于现在。乔治敦的政府官员认为，在未来5年内，通过12艘浮式产油储油和卸油船，原油日产量将达到150万桶，甚至更多。如果这一目标实现，这个南美洲小国（以2021年的产量为基准）将成为拉丁美洲和加勒比地区第三大产油国，产量仅次于巴西和墨西哥。这将为圭亚那带来巨大的经济繁荣。这个国家将成为全球主要的石油出口国，其石油产量将远远超过国内需求，而圭亚那政府的金库将在不到10年的时间内快速膨胀，预计年收入将超过100亿美元。借助最新的石油发现，埃克森美孚公司将加大钻取更深井的计划，而乔治城将专注于建设急需的工业基础设施并吸引更多投资，这意味着圭亚那有潜力成为南美洲主要的石油生产国。 

李峻 编译自 美国油价网

原文如下：

Guyana Could Overtake Brazil As South America’s Top Oil Producer

Guyana’s oil industry is booming thanks to a number of massive discoveries.

Exxon is leading the charge on this new oil frontier.

The country will materialize as a leading global oil exporter with its petroleum output far exceeding domestic demand.

Global energy supermajor ExxonMobil and its partners Hess  have made an astonishing number of high-quality oil discoveries in offshore Guyana. In April 2022 Exxon announced that it made three more discoveries in the 6.6-million-acre Stabroek Block, where it is the operator holding a 45% interest with 30% owned by Hess . The discoveries were made at the Barreleye-1, Patwa-1 and Lukanani-1 well all of which lie to the east of the Liza oilfield and Payara development. That brings the number of oil discoveries thus far this year in offshore Guyana to five and a total of at least 31 discoveries in the Stabroek Block since 2015. Exxon estimates that those latest discoveries give it around 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil resources in the Stabroek block. This is the world’s largest oil discovery in two decades.

The swath of oil discoveries in offshore Guyana are not limited to the Exxon-led consortium’s operations in the Stabroek Block, other energy companies are reporting similar quality finds. In January 2022 Canadian driller Frontera Energy, Colombia’s third largest oil producer, along with partner CGX Energy, of which Frontera is the controlling shareholder, announced the discovery of oil in the Corentyne Block. The wildcat Kawa-1 well was drilled in the northern tip of the block to a depth of 21,578 feet or 6,577 meters with 177 feet or 54 meters of hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs found. Then in a May 2022 media release Frontera stated additional drilling at Kawa-1 had identified an additional 51 feet or 15 meters of net pay with multiple hydrocarbon bearing zones running for 69 meters. The Canadian intermediate upstream oil producer plans to spud the Wei-1 wildcat well, 14 kilometers northwest of Kawa-1, in the Corentyne Block during the third quarter 2022.

Industry insiders claim that the northern tip of the Corentyne Block encompasses the same petroleum fairway which runs through the Stabroek Block into Block 58 offshore Suriname. According to Frontera the geology found in the Corentyne Block is comparable to offshore Suriname Block 58 where TotalEnergies, which is the operator, and 50% partner Apache have made five quality oil discoveries. Those numbers combined with clear signs that the Guyana Suriname Basin’s oil potential significantly exceeds the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) May 2001 mean estimated undiscovered oil resources of around 15.25 billion barrels. Hess Chief Executive Officer John Hess, in early June 2022, stated he believes further large hydrocarbon discoveries will be made in the Stabroek Block when drilling deeper. Most of the 31 discoveries made in the block, thus far, occurred at a depth of around 15,000 feet or 4,572 meters, but the Fangtooth-1 well, completed early this year, identified 164 feet or 50 meters of high-quality oil-bearing reservoirs after drilling 18,000 feet or 5,486 meters. This indicates that the 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil resources found by the Exxon-led consortium in the block could very well be the beginning, with further large-scale finds to be made when drilling at greater depths proceeds. 

For these reasons, energy industry insiders believe the USGS, during its 2000 assessment, grossly underestimated the discoverable oil resources in the Guyana-Suriname Basin. The U.S. government body had stated that the basin held undiscovered oil resources of 2.8 billion to 32.6 billion barrels which at the bottom-end is significantly less than the volume of oil discovered in the Stabroek Block by Exxon. These developments indicate a reappraisal of the basin’s oil potential is urgently required. The USGS was planning to reassess the Guyana-Suriname Basin in 2020, but this was delayed by the pandemic. The vast petroleum potential emerging in offshore Guyana indicates that the impoverished former British colony could eventually possess greater oil reserves than neighboring Brazil where the regulator, the National Hydrocarbon Agency, announced proven reserves of 13.24 billion barrels at the end of 2021.

The development of the Stabroek Block is continuing at a brisk pace, and according to Hess is ahead of schedule. While industry analysts predicted in 2020 that Guyana will be pumping 1.2 million barrels of crude oil daily by 2027, there is every indication, based on the latest developments, that output will be far higher by then. Government officials in Georgetown believe crude oil production could reach 1.5 million barrels per day, or more, from as many as 12 Floating Production Storage and Offloading facilities (FPSOs) in five years. If that is achieved it will see the tiny South American nation, based on 2021 production volumes, emerge as the third largest oil-producing nation in Latin America and the Caribbean with only Brazil and Mexico pumping more crude oil. Such an event will deliver a tremendous economic boom for Guyana. The former British colony will materialize as a leading global oil exporter with its petroleum output far exceeding domestic demand, while government coffers will swell with annual income expected to over $10 billion annually in less than a decade. The latest oil discoveries, Exxon’s plans to drill at greater depths and Georgetown’s focus on building out urgently needed industry infrastructure and attracting additional investment mean Guyana possesses the potential to become South America’s leading oil producer.