Exxon to produce additional 20,000 barrels per day beyond Liza 1 & 2 full capacity

Feb 18, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – Despite already producing 380,000 barrels per day (bpd) which is 40,000 barrels above the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels nameplate capacity – ExxonMobil Guyana is making preparations to produce an additional 20,000 barrels bpd over the vessels’ full capacity.

This was revealed by President of ExxonMobil Upstream Company, Liam Mallon, on Tuesday during his address at the second annual Guyana International Energy Conference and Expo 2023 held at the Marriott Hotel, Georgetown.

President of ExxonMobil Upstream Company, Liam Mallon

Mallon explained that with further debottlenecking work which are ongoing; Exxon will be able to reach 400,000 barrels per day. For those unfamiliar with the term, debottlenecking is the process of identifying specific areas and/or equipment in oil and gas facilities that limit the flow of product (otherwise known as bottlenecks) and optimizing them so that overall capacity in the plant can be increased.

The Upstream President said, “We now have two state-of-the-art Floating Production and Storage Vessels operating offshore, the Liza Destiny and the Liza Unity, producing 380,000 barrels per day with exceptional safety and reliability …a third FPSO, the Prosperity, is set to depart Singapore this quarter, having been dedicated by the First Lady at its naming ceremony two weeks ago, and is planned to start up later this year.”

He added that construction is already underway on the fourth FPSO, the ONE GUYANA which is for the Yellowtail development and the startup for that project is planned by the end of 2025.

According to Mallon, the fifth and sixth Stabroek Block projects namely Uaru and Whiptail are planned to bring more than 1.2 million bpd of production capacity by the end of 2027. However, he highlighted, “It is not just about pace. This story is way beyond pace. It’s also about developing responsibility.”

“We’re also executing an extensive exploration and appraisal program in the area around the Fangtooth discovery to define a potential seventh development, underpinned by the recent success of the Fangtooth-SE-1 well,” Mallon said too.

Exxon’s effort to go beyond the nameplate capacity of the two FPSOs is in line with what it plans to run each of the 10 planned FPSO vessels above its full capacity. Back in 2021, ExxonMobil Stabroek Block partner, Hess Corporation’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Greg Hill, had disclosed the aforementioned. Exxon’s speed is also in line with Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo’s request for the oil and gas companies to accelerate exploration and production.

Kaieteur News recently reported that during Mallon’s address at the energy conference, he boasted about the breakneck speed with which ExxonMobil was able to cut the time in half to move from exploration to production in a deepwater project.

Mallon underscored that since the first discovery in 2015, the estimate of Guyana’s resource has grown to nearly 11 billion barrels, which makes it the largest in industry in the past decade. “In total, we’ve made more than 30 discoveries, and we’re still exploring Guyana’s vast potential,” Mallon added.

Importantly, while the Government has been pushing for the oil companies to go faster and Exxon looking to increase its production rate – it should be noted that the country is without full liability insurance from the oil and gas majors.

In fact, Exxon is currently producing 380,000 barrels per day, with Guyana having a mere US$600M insurance policy in place with ExxonMobil’s local subsidiary to cover costs in the event of an oil spill. Notably, Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) disclosed last year that a parent guarantee from ExxonMobil Corporation is still in the discussion stage.

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ExxonMobil Upstream Company, Guyana International Energy Conference and Expo 2023, Liam Mallon, Liza Destiny, Marriott hotel

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