Irving-based oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) said Wednesday that it has made a significant oil discovery off the coast of Guyana.
The find is in the Stabroek Block about 120 miles offshore from the country of about 800,000 on the Caribbean coast of South America.
Exxon said that the well was drilled by an affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd. and that it encountered more than 295 feet of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs.
The well was drilled to 17,825 feet in 5,719 feet of water, Exxon said.
“I am encouraged by the results of the first well on the Stabroek Block,” Stephen M. Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Co. said in a news release. “Over the coming months we will work to determine the commercial viability of the discovered resource, as well as evaluate other resource potential on the block.”
Exxon said that Esso Exploration and Production Guyana holds 45 percent interest in the well. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 percent and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Ltd. holds 25