No structural changes were made to Liza Destiny to increase production

Feb 24, 2021 News

By Kemol King

ExxonMobil Guyana Government and Public Affairs Advisor, Janelle Persaud

Kaieteur News – ExxonMobil Guyana’s Government and Public Affairs Advisor, Janelle Persaud says that the Liza Destiny Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) was able to produce oil above nameplate capacity of 120,000 barrels per day is that its total liquids capacity is 158,000 bpd, and produced water is currently coming up at a low rate.
“The Liza Destiny is designed to produce up to 158 thousand barrels of total liquids per day which includes water and oil,” Persaud said in response to a question of whether ExxonMobil had made any structural changes to the Liza Destiny to produce above nameplate. “Given the current low rate of water production, we were able to utilize the installed liquid capacity of the design to safely optimize the production of oil.”
Chief Operations Officer at Hess Corporation Gregory Hill on, during the Stabroek Block partner’s 2020 Q4 earnings call on January 27, said that ExxonMobil intends to evaluate and pursue options to increase nameplate capacity at the Liza Destiny. This would include some piping changes and debottlenecking, and is expected to occur during a third quarter shutdown period, Hill had explained.
ExxonMobil maintains that the recent reported production numbers above 120,000 bpd are due to optimization of the vessel’s current design.
This optimisation, Persaud told Kaieteur News, “is a normal process for operations around the world and was only done after a comprehensive safety evaluation ensuring safety and reliability were not compromised.” The company insists that the recent technical issues experienced at its gas compressor were not caused by the optimisation of production.
“As previously stated, a detailed study has removed any connection between the technical issues with the flash gas compressor and the production optimization process,” Persaud said. “Production was restored to previous levels as we sought to ensure that the appropriate attention is given to completing the repairs and safely reinstalling the flash gas compressor on the Liza Destiny.”
Repairs and upgrades to the defective equipment are ongoing at the MAN Energy Workshop in Oberhausen, Germany. In an operational update yesterday, Persaud said, “Reassembly of the flash gas compressor continues at the MAN Energy Solutions workshop in Germany. Over the weekend, the MAN team completed adjustments to achieve the required clearances on the discharge side of the compressor and has started verifications of internal machinery profiles. Technical experts are also finalizing near-term recommendations for repair and potential upgrade to the discharge silencer.”
Janelle told reporters on February 20 that reinstallment of the equipment after undergoing fixes and upgrades could take up to eight weeks. ExxonMobil has also made an order for a new compressor. It said that its expected arrival is closer to the end of the year due to the complex nature of the equipment.
The ExxonMobil representative said yesterday, “On the Liza Destiny, we continue to manage production and flare levels, maintaining a careful balance of sustained production and appropriate environmental considerations.”
The company is flaring about 16 million to 18 million cubic feet of gas per day.
“We continue to provide regular updates to government and other key stakeholders while also tirelessly working to restore operations and reduce the flare to pilot levels of less than one percent of the produced gas,” Persaud noted.

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