Exxon to drain almost a third of Liza, Payara fields by year-end

Feb 11, 2024 News

Kaieteur News – ExxonMobil’s operations in the Stabroek Block are on track to deplete almost a third of the resources in the Liza and Payara fields by the end of 2024.

This pace of extraction has sparked concerns about just how long it will take for the company to deplete the oil there. Since December 2019, ExxonMobil, alongside its partners Hess and CNOOC, has been extracting oil at an increasing rate, with production at intense levels even when it was flaring worrying levels of gas in the first year.

The operational projects—Liza Phase 1, Liza Phase 2, and Payara—are currently producing. Liza Phase 1 started production in December 2019, followed by Liza Phase 2 in February 2022, and Payara in November 2023. Together, these projects are expected to yield an accumulated 500 million barrels of oil by the end of 2024, according to Exxon’s Guyana Head, Alistair Routledge, ExxonMobil’s disclosure of this production milestone is alarming, given that the combined oil-equivalent resources of these three projects is approximately 1.65 billion barrels.

This figure represents both oil and gas, with a predominant share attributed to oil. However, even when assuming that all is oil, it becomes clear that current production levels would deplete the fields much sooner than the 20-year period of each production license. Liza Phase 1 produces up to 160,000 barrels, Liza Phase 2 up to 250,000 barrels, and Payara up to 230,000 barrels – daily. With a current production rate exceeding 600,000 barrels per day across these projects, this extraction velocity suggests that the fields’ reserves could be drained out in five years.

However, ExxonMobil has noted that oil fields do not maintain their peak production rates indefinitely. A gradual decline in output is expected as the fields become more depleted, which could extend the lifespan of these resources beyond simpler projections.

This is likely to be most evident when the Gas-to-Energy project is in full swing. However, the lack of public information regarding the anticipated rates of oil production decline leaves stakeholders in the dark about the true longevity of Guyana’s oil fields.

The revelation that nearly a third of the Liza Phase 1, Liza Phase 2, and Payara fields will be exhausted by the end of 2024 raises alarms about the aggressive pace of resource extraction. Stakeholders, including transparency advocates, are likely to demand more detailed information from ExxonMobil regarding the depletion rates and long-term management strategies for these oil fields. Such transparency is essential for evaluating the environmental impacts, economic benefits, and strategic planning necessary to safeguard Guyana’s oil reserves for future generations.

Further complicating this state of affairs is the anticipation of additional projects like Yellowtail and Uaru, each expected to contribute another 250,000 barrels per day, and a sixth project with similar capacity. These expansions are poised to increase total offshore production in Guyana to more than 1.3 million barrels per day.

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000 barrels, ExxonMobil’s, Liza Phase 1 started, Payara up to 230, These expansions, Yellowtail and Uaru

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