ExxonMobil spent over $8B with local businesses for 1st quarter – Routledge

…First Lady named “Godmother” of Liza Unity FPSO

ExxonMobil and its partners are continuing advancing their development of Guyana’s oil and gas industry both on and offshore and according to ExxonMobil’s Country President Alistair Routledge, they have spent over $8 billion with local businesses during the first quarter of 2021.
He made the disclosure on Saturday during the dedication ceremony for the Liza Unity – the country’s second floating, production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO).
“ExxonMobil, and its partners are absolutely committed to responsible development of Guyana’s resource, that means doing it safely, that means doing it for protection of the environment, but it also means ensuring that we build local content in the country…We’ve made tremendous progress in that respect. To date, over 600 local businesses are supporting the operation here in Guyana. We have spent over 85 billion Guyanese dollars with those businesses, since 2015, and in the first quarter of this year alone, we spent $8 billion. So, impressive progress,” he said.

He added that Exxon has also been investing in the institutions that are essential to the development of the future talent of Guyana whether it is the University of Guyana or the technical vocational education institutions.
“We’ve also invested heavily in the Centre for Local Business Development, which has been an absolutely critical tool to ensuring that businesses and local business people and entrepreneurs have the help they need to start in business to understand what it means to work in support of our industry and to prepare them to compete, not just amongst themselves, but to build up a capability that competes at an international level,” Routledge stated.
He said that it is important that they continue working with the Government to further develop the country’s offshore resources which will enable Guyanese to position themselves to better take advantage of the opportunities.

Liza Unity
The Liza Unity is the country’s second FPSO vessel and has a production target of 220,000 barrels of oil per day and an overall storage volume of up 2 million barrels. That means it is the larger than the Liza Destiny, which was the first FPSO vessel.
The hull for the Liza Unity FPSO was built by Chinese shipyard Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding. It is based on SBM Offshore’s Fast4Ward programme, and it is the first FPSO in Guyana to incorporate the company’s “design one, build many” approach. The topside modules were constructed and added to the hull by Keppel at their shipyard in Singapore.
The naming ceremony marks a significant step for the Liza Unity in Singapore before it sets sail for Guyana on its 80-day journey to Guyana.
“(The construction of the Liza Unity was) A global effort across many countries across the world. Thousands of people were involved in the construction of this project, the design and engineering, and the preparation for it to set sail. Now, we have to remember all the challenges we’ve had in the last almost 18 months since COVID started and this project has been able to maintain its schedule despite all those challenges which is truly remarkable thing. It speaks to the teamwork between the ExxonMobil project team, the SBM team, Keppel and many other companies that have supported this effort in order to keep the project on schedule,” Routledge explained.
He added that that while the FPSO is the most visible part of the project, they have also been busy drilling wells and laying the subsea infrastructure to ensure they can commence production when Liza Unity gets here.

Godmother
The Liza Unity has been officially dedicated by First Lady of Guyana, Arya Ali, the ship’s “Godmother,” as it prepares to set sail from Singapore for Guyanese waters. The ceremony was held at the Cara Lodge Hotel on Saturday, June 12. Traditionally, the vessel’s “Godmother” bestows luck and protection over the vessel and crew during its journey.
“This project will materialise in the form of local content growth; meaning more jobs for Guyanese and more opportunities for local businesses and increased revenues, which, when prudently managed, will certainly help us to achieve many of the aspirational goals which have been outlined by the Government of Guyana,” the First Lady said.
She said that the Liza Unity falls in line with her vision for One Guyana.
“The name of the vessel is most appropriate as it builds on a project already delivering significant benefits to the people of Guyana. The discovery and responsible development of oil and gas resources in Guyana makes me optimistic that our collective efforts to eliminate poverty, reduce economic disparities, and further advance efforts to unite this great nation will bear fruit. It is also my fervent hope that our generation will be properly positioned to continue these efforts and accelerate Guyana’s development.”