ExxonMobil has spudded its highly anticipated appraisal of the Liza oil discovery off Guyana and begun seismic work on the adjacent Canje block after completing a farm-in deal.

Drillship Stena Carron has spudded the Liza-2 appraisal after sailing to ExxonMobil’s Stabroek block off Guyana from the Canary Islands, where it had been idle for more than a year.

The Liza appraisal is the first of at least four wells — split between appraisals and wildcats — planned for the 6.5-million-acre