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Govt. reviewing Exxon’s request to produce 945,000 barrels per day
(Kaieteur News) – The Government of Guyana (GoG) is reviewing a request from ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) to increase production at its fourth offshore development, a move that could raise total output from the Stabroek Block to approximately 945,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).
Currently, the country is producing an average 915,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to the latest data published on the Ministry of Natural Resources website for April.
Exxon is seeking the government’s blessing to produce an additional 30,000 barrels daily at the One Guyana Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO), which develops the Yellowtail resources.
Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat
Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat in a recent interview with the media revealed: “We have received the requests from Exxon. The Petroleum Unit at GGMC (Guyana Geology and Mines Commission), which is a technical unit; as usual they are examining that request. That will be followed up by a physical visit by our officer on the FPSO and we are looking especially for safety, to ensure that safety measures are in place, to ensure that the ramp up in production will not cause any issue with regard to production on the One Guyana FPSO, like we have done safely with the others.”
He reminded that all three of the other FPSOs producing oil in Guyana by Exxon have been optimised and are currently producing above the initial design rate, “without an issue”.
“We’re happy about that and we are taking the same approach or the same method with this request as well,” the minister noted.
The offshore visit by the team seeks to ensure that the modules will not be strained as more oil flows from the reservoirs. The minister said he could not give a timeline for the review process as the request must be carefully analysed since “any mistake can be very detrimental.”
The One Guyana FPSO that produces oil at the Yellowtail project.
In addition to the Ministry and the GGMC, the regulator of the sector, Guyana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will also play a role prior to the approval being granted.
Guyana has not employed the services of foreign experts to aid in the review process. Minister Bharrat assured, “We have really built capacity over the few years and our local guys at GGMC and the Ministry of Natural Resources have been doing a very good job and we have done it with the other FPSOs with the same very team, the local team.”
In March, President of EMGL, Alistair Routledge informed the media of the company’s plans to ramp up production at Yellowtail, from 263,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 290,000 bpd.
The company has completed a number of studies analysing the operation of the facilities for existing bottlenecks while safety analysis was conducted on the production facilities to minimise or reduce bottlenecks to increase production.
Any increase to the daily production levels will be done in a phased manner for safety purposes according to the Country Manager.
To date, ExxonMobil has conducted debottlenecking activities on the other three FPSOs in the Stabroek Block.
Payara, Exxon’s third project which commenced production on November 14, 2023, was designed to produce 220,000 (bpd) but Exxon has increased production to over 260,000 bpd.
Similarly, both Liza One and Liza Two are producing above the design capacity. 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. Recent data on the Ministry of Natural Resources website indicates that the two projects are producing about 125,000 bpd and 260,000 bpd.
Stakeholders have often raised concern over the increased production activities being conducted by the operator, touting the increased risk of an oil spill as a result.
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