FPSO for Exxon’s 3rd development to sail for Guyana by March 2023 – Hess COO

…Yellowtail 44% complete, One Guyana FPSO to enter dry docks in April

Developments in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana continue at a rapid pace, with ExxonMobil co-venturer Hess Corporation recently confirming that the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for the third oil development will soon set sail for Guyana.
Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Hess Corporation, Greg Hill recently confirmed during a web cast that the Prosperity FPSO earmarked for the Payara development is almost complete and will sail for Guyana by March, the end of the first quarter of 2023. An update was also given on their fourth development, Yellowtail.
“The third development, Payara, is approximately 93 per cent complete. The Prosperity FPSO is expected to depart from Singapore in late 1st quarter (2023) and commence hook up and commissioning activities following arrival in Guyana. The project remains ahead of schedule and it’s anticipated to achieve first oil by the end of 2023,” Hill said.
“Yellowtail, our fourth development, is approximately 44 per cent complete and remains on track for first oil in 2025. The One Guyana FPSO hull is completed and is expected to enter dry docks in Singapore in April.”
Hill further explained that work on the topside has commenced, while development drilling is continuing. Both ships are being constructed by Netherlands-based company SBM Offshore. He meanwhile noted that pending Government approval, the Whiptail development may be sanctioned early in 2024.
On the matter of oil production, the COO gave updated statistics on what Hess’ take of oil was from the Stabroek Block. Following the start-up of Liza Phase 2, Guyana gradually produced over 300,000 barrels of oil per day last year. According to Hill, Hess’ average take for the year was 78,000 barrels per day.
“Net production from Guyana averaged 116,000 barrels of oil per day in the 4th quarter of 2022 and 78,000 barrels of oil per day for the full year of 2022, both above our guidance. For the first quarter and full year 2023, we forecast net production in Guyana to average approximately 100,000 barrels of oil per day,” Hill further explained.
Guyana, with US oil giant ExxonMobil as the operator, began producing oil on December 20, 2019, in the Stabroek Block. Guyana’s oil revenues are being held in the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) at the New York Federal Reserve Bank, where it is earning interest.
The oil rich Stabroek Block, which is producing the oil, is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres). Exxon, through its local subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), is the operator and holds 45 per cent interest in the Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd holds 30 per cent interest, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds the remaining 25 per cent interest.
ExxonMobil has said it anticipates at least six projects offshore Guyana will be online by 2027. Production has already started in the second phase, with the Liza Unity FPSO vessel in operation.
The third project –the Payara Development – will target an estimated resource base of about 600 million oil-equivalent barrels, and was at one point considered to be the largest single planned investment in the history of Guyana.
Meanwhile, the Yellowtail development, which will be oil giant ExxonMobil’s fourth development in Guyana’s waters, will turn out to be the single largest development so far in terms of barrels per day of oil, with a mammoth 250,000 bpd targeted.
ExxonMobil is meanwhile seeking project approval for its sixth oil development in Guyana’s waters, approaching the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for environmental authorisation for its Whiptail Project.
The move to seek approval for the Whiptail development comes even as EPA is also considering whether to approve the Uaru oil development in the Stabroek Block, which when established will become ExxonMobil’s fifth development in Guyana. (G3)