…production starts next year of 220,000 barrels oil per day
…to produce approximately 600M barrels of oil
The Liza Unity floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which will be producing oil in the Liza Phase 2 development, has arrived in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana and is expected to commence operations by 2022 with a production target of 220,000 barrels of oil per day.
The Liza Unity FPSO in Guyana’s waters
In addition, it is expected to produce approximately 600 million barrels of oil. The Natural Resources Ministry in a release stated that it welcomes the arrival of the Liza Unity floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana after travelling for approximately 53 days and in excess of 11,000 nautical miles on its journey from Singapore.
The Liza Phase 2 development will be supported by a total of six drill centres and approximately 30 wells. This includes 15 production wells, nine water injection wells and six gas injection wells. Phase 2 start-up is expected in early 2022 and will develop approximately 600 million barrels of oil. Liza Phase 2 is expected to cost $6 billion, including a lease capitalisation cost of approximately $1.6 billion for the Liza Unity FPSO.
However, christened by First Lady Arya Ali earlier this year, the SUSTAIN-1 certified vessel will now be connected to the spread mooring before preparation for testing and commissioning. In his statement on the vessel, ExxonMobil Guyana’s Production Manager Mike Ryan expressed pride.
“I’m so proud of the Unity team. The sail itself is long. The advent of COVID-19 was challenging, but the team was resilient, pushed through and delivered a beautiful FPSO that’s here in Guyana,” Ryan said.
“We’re all really excited that she’s joined the neighbourhood next to Liza Destiny, and we’re really looking forward to the next few phases as we bring this FPSO online into 2022. The standard for operational excellence set with the construction of the Liza Unity demonstrates the level of quality that we aspire to meet on every aspect of our projects,” he also said.
The Liza Unity FPSO has been awarded the SUSTAIN-1 notation by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), the Classification Society for the unit. It is the world’s first FPSO to achieve such recognition for sustainability for its design, documentation and operational procedures.
This means that the design and construction of the unit is assessed against and adheres to the requirements of the ABS Guide for Sustainability Notations, aligned with the applicable United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to Ryan, Exxon remains committed to sustainable oil exploration and production.
“We remain committed to producing the energy which is essential to modern life and economic development, in a way that helps protect people and the environment. The development concept and our work on the Liza Unity FPSO has been guided by our enduring values: personnel safety, operational quality, executing on commitments to shareholders and resource owners, and bringing energy to the world while respecting our commitment to the environment and communities in which we operate,” he said.
More than 2860 Guyanese have worked on ExxonMobil Guyana’s exploration and development activities in Guyana. The Production Manager noted that Guyana should be proud of the strides made when it comes to local content.
“Guyana should be very proud of the Guyanese who are offshore, the Guyanese who are on the Liza Destiny and on all of our drill ships and support vessels. It is one team, it’s a big family that we have and we’re committed to delivering to Guyana,” Ryan said.
