Latest update March 22nd, 2025 4:25 AM
Defective Exxon gas compressor repaired, on its way to Guyana
…as company reports continued flaring, production at 110,000 barrels daily
The gas compressor during one if its sojourns for a repair.
Kaieteur News – ExxonMobil Guyana, the lead operator in the Stabroek Block, has announced that the repairs and upgrades to the third stage discharge silencer—a key component of the flash gas compression system for the Liza Destiny, is completed and is being shipped back to Guyana for reinstallation.
The defective compressor had be removed following a gas leak on April 11 and had to be shipped to Houston, Texas, where it was repaired by MAN Energy Solutions.
Announcing the update on Friday, the company said that, “current plans are for the equipment to be back in country and reassembled for safe start-up in June.”
ExxonMobil Guyana’s Production Manager, Mike Ryan, reportedly visited the MAN workshop in Houston this past week to meet with the leadership team, technical experts and repair personnel, and to “have a firsthand look at the progress of repairs.”
The company has since reported that while repairs are ongoing, operations at the Liza Destiny continue safely producing between 100 and 110 thousand barrels of oil per day, with a flare level below 15 million cubic feet per day.
The company in a statement announcing the development said it “remains fully committed to resolving these technical challenges as quickly as possible, and remains engaged with relevant government agencies to ensure operations are executed safely taking environmental, technical and economic factors into consideration.”
The development by ExxonMobil comes on the heels of a decision taken recently by local authorities to fine the US oil major over its flaring violations in the Stabroek Block as a result of the defective equipment.
The Environmental Protection Agency, this past week announced that the Permit for the Liza I operations was this past Monday amended by the parties involved to allow for ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), to pay US$30 for every tonne of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2e) – a term for describing different greenhouse gases in a common unit – burnt after May 13, 2021.
Kaieteur News understands that EEPGL agreed to the changes which include, revised terms and conditions relating to emissions reporting requirements, technical considerations for flaring, timelines for flaring events and an obligation on the company to pay for the emission of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2e) as a result of flaring in excess of these timelines. The modified Permit was signed between the two parties on Thursday last.
Since start up in December 2019, Kaieteur News would have 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. However, 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.
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 other mechanical disruptions.
The equipment was back in Guyana by the second week of March where it was installed on the Liza Destiny vessel. Tests during installation were being carried out. But before that could be completed, the gas compressor, which was supposedly repaired and upgraded, malfunctioned for the fourth time, forcing the operator to curtail production at the time.
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