UPDATE 1-Guyana president says first oil project has reached full capacity

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March 17 (Reuters) - Guyana's President Irfaan Ali said on Wednesday that the first phase of the Liza offshore crude project had achieved its intended full production capacity of around 130,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Ali told the Guyana Basins Summit that he expected an additional 10 exploration and appraisal wells to be drilled off the South American country's shores this year. He said the second phase of the Liza project, operated by Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N, would commence in 2022.

The consortium led by Exxon, which includes partners Hess Corp HES.N and CNOOC Ltd 0883.HK, has made 18 discoveries containing more than 8 billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas in Guyana's Stabroek block.

Ali said he estimated that the country's total oil resources amounted to about twice the level of current discovered reserves.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Jan Harvey)

((luc.cohen@thomsonreuters.com; +58 424 133 7696; Reuters Messaging: Twitter: @cohenluc))