Oil production at the Liza Phase two development in the Stabroek Block, which currently averages between 220,000 and 230,000 barrels of oil per day, is expected to increase to 250,000 barrels per day by year-end.
This was revealed by Hess Corporation Chief Operating Officer (COO) Greg Hill, during a recent conference call with shareholders. Hess is ExxonMobil’s partner in the Stabroek Block, where the Liza Phase two project has been producing at least 220,000 barrels per day.
HESS COO Greg Hill
Asked on the conference call what oil production for the future would look like, Hill explained that Liza Phase Two production is expected to increase to 250,000 barrels of oil per day by year-end.
“The wells have been performing extremely well, above expectation. Subsurface going great. We continue to see further upside in the subsurface, as we produce the wells. And ExxonMobil and EEPGL are just doing an outstanding job of topsides reliability and also the debottlenecking side. Recall that phase one was debottlenecked, to 140,000.”
“It’s actually producing between 140,000 and 150,000, sort of in that range. And then when you look at phase two, it has a [minimum production] of 220,000. It’s on track to be debottlenecked towards 250,000 by the end of the year,” Hill said.
Hill also said that so far, oil production in Liza Phase Two has been averaging between 220,000 and 230,000 barrels of oil per day on a regular basis. The Unity floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel is currently producing oil in the Liza Phase Two project, which came onstream back in 2022.
Out of 102 lifts last year that earned US$1 billion from sales, the Liza Phase Two project accounted for US$588.9 million in earnings. The Liza Phase One project, which has been producing oil since 2019, accounted for US$510.2 million.
Exxon is currently conducting 3D and 4D mapping in the Stabroek Block, even as it also seeks authorisation for a 35 well drilling campaign. According to their application, if all requisite approvals are granted then the drilling of the wells is expected to start in the 2023 third quarter, with the proposed drilling campaign coming to an end by the fourth quarter of 2028.
The Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) of the 35 exploration/appraisal wells planned for the Stabroek Block, was done by ERM Guyana, which conducts environmental, health, safety and risk assessments. It had said that no major environmental impacts would result from the project.
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 Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres). 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.
Since last year, Guyana has been recording weekly lifts in the Stabroek Block, with oil production now at 340,000 barrels per day from the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels. With EEPGL making weekly lifts, Guyana’s crude entitlement of one million barrels occurs monthly from the two FPSOs.
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.
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.
And last week, just one day after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved Exxon’s Uaru petroleum project – the fifth project – and granted the Environmental Permit, the Natural Resources Ministry (MNR) on Friday announced that it has approved the Field Development Plan (FDP) and as such, issued the Petroleum Production Licence (PPL). (G3)
