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Natural gas – the resource we may have to forego

Dec 16, 2019 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
An article in KN, captioned, “ Oil company ready to talk natural gas…Local leaders without an inclusive plan – PSC”, may not be entirely truthful from the perspective of the oil company. Given that Exxon is here for the oil – gas becomes secondary and no assessment of the amount and quality of the gas naturally dissolved in the oil has been done. The crude in Liza field is considered sweet because it contains less than 0.5 sulphur, making it highly probably that the dissolved gas from the crude oil at the wells head will be sweet gas- containing less than 100ppm of Hydrogen sulphide. Hydrogen sulphide is the souring agent in natural gas. Exxon would be reinjecting gas to pressurise the reservoir to aid extraction of the crude because the use of sea water for that purpose can cause souring of the crude (increase of the sulphur content) because of microbes present in sea water. The reinjected gas could be harvested at a later date. Piping any extra gas not used on the FPSO and for pressurising the reservoir to the shore of Guyana would be a costly operation because of corrosion of pipes from the inside by hydrogen sulphide and sea water on the outside. Moreover, any natural gas piped to land will require a processing plant to clean it up, making it fit for commercial purposes. It would take a huge investment to lay 100 miles of pipeline under water to shore and for a processing plant. Where is the market for natural gas in this area? We are probably 300,000 households using less than 20 lbs of pressurised methane gas per month. That might not be enough to maintain a 100 miles of corroding pipes. I am not aware of any plant aboard the FPSO to process natural gas and liquify to sell anywhere. Oil is the prize sought by Exxon. Exxon will not invest in gas from the Stabroek Block – you can take that to the bank!
By virtue of our PSA with Exxon, we are already heavily indebted with pre-contract and other costs leading to first oil. Given the dynamics of transporting, processing and marketing of natural gas and no huge market in close proximity to the Liza field, commercial venture in gas from the Liza field is not, in my opinion, economically viable even if Exxon gives up the gas it will not be using for free on the Liza field.
Maybe the saying that, “you cannot have two sweet (oil and gas) out of one joint (Liza)”, will ring true for us.
The article stated that there is a “decision taken that natural gas will not be flared” (burn out) on the Liza Destiny. That may well be changed. The alternative to flaring is releasing into the atmosphere or reinjecting into the reservoir. Too much pressure in the reservoir is conducive to well blow out. Flaring natural gas produces carbon dioxide. Natural gas is mainly methane – methane released in the atmosphere is 23 times more polluting than carbon dioxide. Flaring is more friendly to the environment. Let’s be realistic! Natural gas from our continental shelf is a resource we may have to forego.
Rudolph Singh

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