Liza opens the door
ExxonMobil's find has opened a new frontier along South America's northeast coast
Guyana's emergence into the spotlight has been swift. In spite of its proximity to oil-and-gas rich Venezuela and Trinidad & Tobago, the tiny South American country's waters had remained almost completely unexplored until 2015. That was when ExxonMobil hit it big at the Liza field, which opened up a multi-billion-barrel frontier. Now the country is racing to first oil. ExxonMobil and its partners Hess and Cnooc-owned Nexen sanctioned the first phase of development at the Liza field in July. Guyanese oil, which is relatively light at around 32°API, is expected to start flowing by 2020, less than five years after the discovery. ExxonMobil and its partners plan to spend some $4.4bn on the i
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