Latest update November 29th, 2024 1:00 AM
Exxon to kick off public meetings for 6th oil project month end
…despite 5th project awaiting approval
Kaieteur News – ExxonMobil Corporation’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) is set to kick off public meetings for its sixth project from January 30, 2023 to February 7, 2023. EEPGL appears to be moving at breakneck speed with efforts to produce Guyana’s sweet crude despite the fact that it is yet to receive regulatory approvals for its fifth project.
This sixth project, the company is now racing ahead with, will seek to develop massive amounts of oil from the Whiptail discovery field in the Stabroek Block.
Oil production from the project is expected to last approximately 20 to 30 years. EEPGL will drill approximately 40 – 65 wells offshore to support extraction of the oil from below the sea floor. A massive Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading vessel (FPSO) will also be moored on location in approximately 1,700 m of water depth and will remain there throughout the production stage.
The FPSO will have a peak capacity to produce up to approximately 220,000 barrels to 275,000 barrels of oil per day. EEPGL was keen to note that these estimates are preliminary and are subject to change. Processed oil will be stored in cargo tanks inside the FPSO hull which have the capacity to hold approximately 2 million barrels of oil. During peak production, approximately every three to six days, the oil will be pumped from the FPSO to a conventional oil tanker, which is owned/operated by third parties. The tanker will then export the oil to buyers.
EEPGL was also keen to note that it will utilize onshore support facilities to support drilling the wells, installing the offshore production facilities, and operating the offshore production facilities. This will include but is not limited to shorebases, warehouses, storage and pipe yards, fabrication facilities, fuel supply facilities, and waste management facilities in Guyana.
Helicopters and supply boats will also be needed to support the Project. At peak, EEPGL said it will be supported by approximately 1,200 offshore personnel during the well drilling and oil production installation stages. This number will decrease to less than 200 personnel during the production phase. A smaller number of personnel will be utilized at the onshore support facilities.
The sixth project is expected to cost approximately US$12B, given its similarities to EEPGL’s fifth project at the Uaru project. EEPGL had said the Uaru development would cost Guyanese US$12.6B.
Kaieteur News understands that in-person scoping meetings for the sixth project will be held across several parts of the country. (See chart for further details).
The Environmental Protection Agency said it has determined that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required to be conducted before any decision to approve or reject the proposed project. Citizens can submit questions the EPA for the oil company to answer in the EIA.
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