ExxonMobil to name oil storage vessel for Payara field in Staboek Block “Liza Prosperity”

Oct 02, 2019 News

While ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) is stepping up efforts to secure an environmental permit for the third oil development project in the Stabroek Block called Payara, it has already earmarked a name for the vessel that would be extracting the oil. It will be called, “Liza Prosperity”.

ExxonMobil Guyana Country Manager, Rod Henson

This was recently revealed by Country Manager of ExxonMobil Guyana, Rod Henson. He reminded that the oil storage vessel for Liza Phase One is called Liza Destiny while the one for Liza Phase Two is called Liza Unity.
According to documents in the possession of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), EEPGL’s Payara development will be located in the eastern area of the Stabroek Block which is approximately 190 km (118 miles) from Georgetown.
The operator notes that oil production from Payara is expected to last at least 20 years with startup of the facilities expected to occur approximately in mid-2023.
EEPGL noted that it will drill approximately 35 to 45 wells offshore to support extraction of the oil from below the sea floor. It said that each well will be drilled using a floating drill ship. Also, each well will be directionally drilled to specific reservoir targets generally 4,000 to 5,500 meters (m) below the sea level.
Further to this, EEPGL said it will install some of the oil production facilities on the sea floor at approximately 1,500-1,980 m (4,900-6,500 ft) water depth. It said that these subsea facilities include various types of pipes and hardware.
Kaieteur News understands that the subsea facilities allow the oil from the wells to be gathered and moved to the surface of the ocean for further processing. EEPGL will then install other oil production facilities on a vessel which floats on the surface of the ocean. The vessel is called a Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO). It will be moored on location in approximately 1,800-1,980 m (5,900-6,500 ft) of water depth and will remain on location throughout the life of the facility. EEPGL said that oil production facilities on the FPSO will further process the oil extracted from below the sea floor.
The operator also stated that the FPSO will have the capacity to produce up to approximately 180,000 to 220,000 barrels of oil per day. During the early stage of production operations, the FPSO is anticipated to produce up to an average of approximately 5,700,000 to 6,600,000 barrels of crude oil per month. These estimates are preliminary and are subject to change.
Further to this, it was noted that the Project is expected to employ up to 600 persons during development well drilling, approximately 600 persons at the peak of the installation stage, and up to about 140 persons during production operations.
According to EEPGL, the planned activities of the project are predicted to have negligible residual impacts on most physical resources and negligible to minor residual impacts on socioeconomic resources.
It said that these predictions are based on the fact that the bulk of the project activity will occur approximately 207 kilometers (approximately 128 miles) offshore.
This newspaper understands that the project will capture and re-inject produced natural gas (that which is not used as fuel on the FPSO) back into the targeted project reservoirs, treat all required wastewater streams prior to discharge to the sea, have a very small physical footprint (e.g., infrastructure construction disturbs only about 0.8 square kilometers [0.3 square miles] of benthic habitat), and use Marine Mammal Observers and “soft starts” during selected activities to reduce the potential for auditory injury to marine mammals.