Latest update December 23rd, 2024 3:40 AM
Exxon wants to increase production capacity in Liza One – Hess COO
By Kemol King
Chief Operating Officer of Hess Corporation, Gregory Hill. (Photo: Hart Energy)
Kaieteur News – Though the nameplate capacity for the vessel operating ExxonMobil’s Liza Phase One project is 120,000 barrels per day, it has been producing at a higher rate since December, and ExxonMobil wants to increase that capacity even further, this year. So said Chief Operations Officer at Hess Corporation, Gregory Hill on Wednesday, during the Stabroek Block partner’s 2020 Q4 earnings call.
Hill said in his presentation, “In mid December, the Liza Destiny Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading vessel achieved its nameplate capacity of 120,000 gross barrels of oil equivalent per day. And since then has been operating at that level or higher.”
He added that the vessel had been operating steadily about 127,000 barrels a day in the week leading up to the January 27 earnings call.
“The wells continue to do as good or better than we thought,” he explained.
“During 2021,” Hill continued, “the operator [ExxonMobil] intends to evaluate and pursue options to increase nameplate capacity.”
This pursuit would include some piping changes and debottlenecking, and is expected to occur during a third quarter shutdown period.
The net production forecast for Guyana in 2021 will average about 30,000 barrels per day, “with planned maintenance and optimization downtime being broadly offset by an increase in nameplate capacity,” Hill said.
The Liza Destiny has been producing oil since December 2019. Despite demonstrating nameplate capacity production at times, production has mostly been curtailed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) due to ExxonMobil’s gas flaring. Flaring was only reduced to pilot levels in December last, and has recently increased due to another announced equipment defect.
Following the infrastructural changes, the Liza Phase One reserve will be wiped out much faster. The increase will also have implications for the volumes of gas flared during emergencies and produced water being dumped into the ocean.
The increase will result in ExxonMobil surpassing its production rate targets much faster. The company and its partners, Hess and CNOOC, had announced plans to surpass 750,000 barrels per day by 2026 with five FPSOs. Even without the infrastructural upgrade, it will only need four.
Liza Phases One and Two, and Payara have nameplate capacities, which will combine to produce 560,000 barrels a day by 2024. Yellowtail-1 is expected to have a nameplate capacity of 220,000 barrels a day, according to Chief Executive Officer of Hess, John Hess.
If the Yellowtail-1 development, which is currently in planning, is approved, ExxonMobil will meet production capacity of 780,000 barrels of oil per day in the Stabroek Block with the four vessels.
Barring any further increases in Stabroek Block nameplate capacities, the Liza Phase One increase could take ExxonMobil’s production well over 800,000 barrels a day.
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