Govt seeking consultant to review Field Development Plan for Yellowtail

– firm to be selected, work to start by early February

The Government of Guyana has launched a tender seeking a consultant to review the Field Development Plan (FDP) for Yellowtail – oil giant ExxonMobil’s fourth development in Guyana’s waters.
According to the Requests for Proposals (RFP) issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources, a consultant is being sought to review and evaluate the FDP, which will outline how Exxon plans to develop the oil field while also mitigating against environmental phenomena.
The consultant will have to review not only the FDP, but also all supporting and reference documents, as well as the environmental and social impact assessments (ESIA) submitted by Exxon and its Joint Venture (JV) partners in the block.

The consultant will also be tasked with preparing a report setting out their opinions and assessments formed while evaluating the FDP and ESIA. According to the Ministry, it is expected that the consultant’s assessment will address compliance or lack thereof, with the existing Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act 1986 and the Environmental Protection Act 1996, the Petroleum Agreement.
It is also expected that the assessment will evaluate the compliance of Yellowtail to international best practices and industry standards while pointing out unresolved issues and areas where additional assessments should be done by Exxon before the FDP is approved. And with an existing no flaring policy in place by the Government, the consultant will also evaluate the FDP in that context.
The consultant will also be expected to provide support to the Natural Resources Ministry, specifically when it comes to drafting a Petroleum Production Licence for Yellowtail and supporting the Ministry’s engagements and information exchanges with Exxon and its partners.
The deadline for the submission of proposals is January 20, 2022. It is expected that contract negotiations with the selected firm would commence approximately February 1, 2022, and the assignment would commence around February 7, 2022. Firms will be scored based on their technical proposals. Their submissions will include a detailed cost breakdown and other clarifications to the proposals submitted by the bidder.
Back in November 2021, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Executive Director Kemraj Parsaram had announced his agency’s plans to put the Yellowtail FDP through a rigorous process before approval, including bringing on an independent expert to review the plan.
“Yellowtail EIA process is ongoing… there’s a 60 days period after they’ve submitted their EIA and that 60 days is statutory for the public to provide any comments and reviews. So that 60 days come to an end around December 15th.”
“So, after the public inputs, there’s an independent body called the Environmental Assessment Board. They have to review the EIA and recommend to the EPA whether the EIA is acceptable or not and recommendations,” Parsaram further explained.
Exxon already has approval from EPA for three other projects; the Liza 1, which is producing oil and the Liza 2 and Payara developments. Yellowtail has an anticipated start date of late 2025 pending governmental approvals and project sanctioning.
ExxonMobil has said it anticipates at least six projects offshore Guyana will be online by 2027, with developmental drilling recently starting on the second one, the Liza Phase 2 project. Back in May 2019, EEPGL was granted approval by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to go ahead with its Liza Phase 2 Development offshore Guyana.
The oil company had said that the project will have the capacity to produce 220,000 barrels of oil per day. Exxon had also revealed that the Liza Phase 2 development was funded at the cost of some US$6 billion, including a lease capitalisation cost of approximately $1.6 billion, for the <<<Liza Utility>>> FPSO vessel. For the Phase 2 Development, six drill centres were planned, along with approximately 30 wells – 15 productions, nine water injection and six gas injection wells.
The US$9 billion Payara development, the third development, will meanwhile 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.
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 (bpd) of oil, with a mammoth 250,000 bpd targeted.