By Sabrina Valle
HOUSTON (Reuters) – The Fangtooth oil discovery in Guyana’s waters is big enough to potentially require a platform for itself, which would be the seventh in the country, Hess Corp Chief Executive Office John Hess said in a conference on Thursday.
Hess Corp is part of the Exxon Mobil Corp-led consortium that has confirmed so far plans for six floating production vessels in the South American country. The six units will lead to an estimated output of 1.2 million barrels of oil and gas per day by 2027, Hess said.
“Fangtooth itself could potentially be the seventh boat,” Hess said at a Goldman Sachs energy conference.
Guyana currently has two operating platforms producing more than 360,000 barrels per day. A third production vessel is planned to start pumping oil at the end of this year. Its construction in Asia is 93% complete, Hess said.
Hess’ operations in Guyana and the Bakken basin in the United States, will take up 80% of the $3.7 billion the company plans to invest this year, the CEO said.
The United States can lift total oil production to 13 million to 13.5 million bpd before output plateaus, Hess said. Shale production should plateau in 2025 or 2026, he added.
(Reporting by Sabrina Valle in Houston and Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
