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Fixing Liza Destiny’s gas compressor woes could last three months
– In the meantime, daily production ramped up by 80,000 barrels
The flaring that continues at the Liza Destiny FPSO.
Kaieteur News – ExxonMobil Guyana disclosed yesterday that it has finally removed the discharge silencer, a component of the gas compressor system for the Liza Destiny vessel that malfunctioned on April 13, last. That aspect of the equipment will undergo further assessment for damage, following which, a determination will be made regarding the necessary scope of repairs and/or modifications. ExxonMobil said it estimates that repairs or replacement will take approximately three months.
In the meantime, the American oil explorer and operator of the Stabroek Block, said that production will be “slowly ramped up” to 100,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd). It can also go as high as 110,000 bpd the company noted. Further to this, Kaieteur News and other media entities were told that flaring levels have increased from three to four million cubic feet of gas to 15 million cubic feet of gas. In its statement which provided justification for the increase, ExxonMobil said, “These operating parameters were defined after careful consideration of safety, environmental, technical and economic factors as well as discussions with the relevant government agencies on the best path forward while repairs and upgrades are ongoing.”
While it is extremely disappointed by its poor performance to date, ExxonMobil Guyana said it is nonetheless “proud of the team offshore that continues to work safely and manage operations efficiently during the COVID-19 pandemic…”
POOR TRACK RECORD
Since December 2019, Kaieteur News would have diligently followed and reported on ExxonMobil’s continually malfunctioning gas compressor system. On December 20, 2020, it had announced that the gas compressor issue was fixed once and for all. But during that one-year period, it had already flared 12.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day, equivalent to the removal of 1.6M acres of forest. In simpler terms, this means that Exxon flared toxic Natural gas that could have been offset by a forest the size of Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam). (https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2020/12/22/exxons-flaring-this-year-equivalent-to-the-removal-of-1-6m-acres-of-forest/).
But the issues with its gas compressor would soon return. On January 13, 2021, the gas compressor malfunctioned for a second time. The company did not reveal the cause at that time but said that it was fixed within a matter of hours, or so it thought. (https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/03/07/exxonmobil-had-flared-early-january-claims-it-lasted-less-than-hours/).
On January 29, 2021, the gas compressor broke down for a third time, forcing ExxonMobil this time around to send the faulty equipment to Germany for repairs and upgrades. A detailed assessment of the compressor subsequently revealed that an axial vibration of the compressor rotor is what led to mechanical disruptions.
The equipment was back in Guyana by the second week of March where it was installed on the Liza Destiny vessel. Tests were subsequently being carried out in the early part of April. (https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/03/14/exxons-repaired-compressor-back-in-guyana/). But before that could be completed, the gas compressor which was supposedly repaired and upgraded, malfunctioned for the fourth time.
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