Latest update November 15th, 2024 1:00 AM
ExxonMobil will be allowed to pump above safety limits after two years in 6th oil project – Petroleum License
A map from ExxonMobil’s EIA showing the location of the Whiptail Project offshore Guyana
Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana (GoG) has inserted a provision into the Whiptail Petroleum Production License that allows ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) to produce oil above the safety limits, two years after the start of operations.
Whiptail is Exxon’s 6th deepwater project, pegged at US$12.7B. It is expected to produce 250,000 barrels of oil per day by 2027.
According to the Petroleum Production Licence granted to EMGL on April 11, 2024, the Licence Holder shall facilitate and fully cooperate with reviews of production optimization reports for the Whiptail project.
The Licence states, “The first such review shall commence two (2) years after startup.”
The oil company will be required to meet with the Chief Inspector, at his request, to ensure any issues, concerns, and/ or recommendations arising out of the review are complied with and/ or addressed in a manner that is satisfactory to the Minister of Natural Resources.
Exxon’s Environmental Permit, obtained by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – dated April 10, 2024- also states in Section 13.30, “No system upgrades and/ or production increase above the FPSO’s key design rates shall be implemented without the written approval of the Agency.”
ExxonMobil to date has ramped up oil production beyond the designed capacity of two Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels, the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity. The Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for the two projects indicate that the Liza One and Liza Two projects were designed to safely operate at 120,000 and 220,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), respectively.
The most recent production statistics- sourced from the Ministry of Natural Resources Petroleum Management Programme- indicates that Exxon is producing more than 150,000 bpd at the Liza Destiny and over 250,000 bpd at the Liza Unity FPSOs. This means that both vessels are producing 30,000 bpd more than it they were designed to.
A third FPSO that began producing oil in November 2023- Prosperity- is producing approximately 230,000 bpd. That vessel was designed to safely produce oil at a capacity of 220,000 bpd.
Stakeholders have publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with the ramping up of oil and gas production in the Stabroek Block by ExxonMobil, even as the country is not fully protected from the costs of an oil spill.
Exxon previously explained that the FPSOs are safely modified to allow for the vessels to produce at higher volumes daily. This technical process is rigorously examined and reviewed by the regulator of the sector, the EPA.
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