Exxon Mobil Corp and its partners plan to spend $12.93 billion to develop its sixth offshore oil project in Guyana, according to a document released by the South American nation.

The Whiptail project's floating production platform will begin operations in 2027, when the Exxon-led consortium will produce more than 1.2 million barrels of oil per day in Guyana.

Guyana has become the world's fastest growing new oil region in a decade, with more than 11 billion barrels of oil and gas discovered. Exxon and partners such as Hess Corp, which currently produce 400,000 barrels of oil per day from two vessels, could develop as many as 10 offshore projects. Their production generates $2.8 billion in direct income for Guyana and provides jobs for about 4,400 Guyanese.

The Whippail project, outlined in the government's Environmental impact analysis released Monday, is similar to Exxon Mobil's fifth project, Uaru, with a capacity of 250,000 barrels per day and a production cap of 263,000 barrels per day. Earlier this year, Exxon, Hess and others committed to spend $12.7 billion to acquire Uaru.

The project is not intended to produce natural gas, the document said, as studies have shown that any reduction in natural gas would result in reduced oil recovery.

The partners plan to drill up to 72 Wells from late 2024 to mid-2030. According to Exxon, installation of the subsea components will begin in the second half of 2025 or early 2026.

In a filing with Guyana's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ExxonMobil said the project is expected to employ 540 people during the drilling and installation phase and 100 to 180 during production operations. Editor/Xu Shengpeng