Exxon working to determine gas resource at Stabroek Block, Guyana minister says

By Sheila Dang and Kemol King

GEORGETOWN, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil XOM.N is continuing work to determine the total natural gas resources at the Stabroek Block in Guyana, the country's energy minister said.

"(The government's) technical team is still going through that with Exxon," said Vickram Bharrat, Guyana's minister of natural resources. "Exxon still needs to do more work to evaluate the amount of resources there."

The U.S. oil major, which leads the consortium that operates the block, has previously said estimating resources and their split between crude oil and associated and non-associated gas, is a continuous work.

Exxon did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The resource's split estimate would be required to evaluate the potential for gas projects, both for the domestic market and for exports.

In an interview at the Guyana Energy Conference, Bharrat said the government's priority is to develop onshore industrial projects to use gas and advance the country's economy, such as data centers and fertilizer plants. Once it is determined there is excess gas beyond that, the government will seek to begin exports, he said.

Exxon last updated the Stabroek's total resource estimate in 2022 at about 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent.