ExxonMobil wins 2017 Explorer of the Year award

Oil major ExxonMobil has been named the 2017 Explorer of the Year by the World Oil and Gas Council in recognition of excellence and innovation in the global energy industry.

During the year, ExxonMobil announced a number of discoveries, acquisitions and other activities in various countries, including Brazil, Cyprus, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea and Suriname.

Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration company, said: “This award is recognition of ExxonMobil’s successful efforts to strengthen our portfolio by accessing and discovering the highest quality resources. This recognition would not be possible without the dedication of our employees and their daily commitment to safety and operational excellence at every stage of exploration.”

Significant exploration activity took place offshore Guyana, where ExxonMobil announced four discoveries in 2017 at Payara, Liza Deep, Snoek, and Turbot. These four discoveries added to the earlier Liza discovery, made in 2015.

Mike Cousins, executive vice president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company, accepted the award on behalf of ExxonMobil at an award dinner in London in December. He was accompanied by several company representatives, including Kerry Moreland, the Guyana basin exploration manager.

Moreland said: “Guyana has become an exciting exploration area where we have consistently demonstrated our technical ability in deepwater exploration and operations. We are planning for continued success with our drilling program in 2018.”

Since receipt of the award in December 2017, ExxonMobil made a sixth discovery offshore Guyana at the Ranger-1 exploration well.

Highlights of the year

Brazil

In September and October, the company added 14 blocks comprising more than 1.25 million net acres offshore Brazil through bid rounds and farm-in agreements, bringing its total acreage in the country to more than 1.4 million net acres.

These included an agreement to purchase half of Statoil’s interest in an offshore block containing the Carcara field, estimated to contain a recoverable resource of two billion barrels of oil.

In December, ExxonMobil signed a memorandum of understanding with Petrobras to jointly identify and evaluate potential business opportunities.

Cyprus

In April, the company signed an exploration and production sharing contract for offshore Block 10.

Equatorial Guinea

In June, ExxonMobil signed a production sharing contract with the government of Equatorial Guinea for deepwater block EG-11.

Malaysia

In November, ExxonMobil signed a production sharing contracts for acreage offshore Sabah, Malaysia.

Mauritania

In December, ExxonMobil signed production sharing contracts for the C22, C17, and C14 offshore blocks.

Papua New Guinea

In June, ExxonMobil announced positive production well tests results from the Muruk-1 sidetrack 3 well. ExxonMobil also drilled the P’nyang South-2 well, which successfully confirmed an extension to the earlier P’nyang discovery.

Across Papua New Guinea, ExxonMobil acquired an additional 5.7 million net acres of prospective acreage, onshore and offshore.

Suriname

In July, ExxonMobil signed a production sharing contract for Block 59 offshore Suriname in the Guyana-Suriname Basin.

United States – Gulf of Mexico

In March and August, ExxonMobil was awarded 25 blocks in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico lease sales.