Shutdown of Liza Destiny, Unity FPSOs scheduled for 3rd quarter of 2024 – ExxonMobil

…to allow for tie-in with Gas-to-Energy Project

The shutdown of the Liza Destiny and Unity Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels, which are necessary to install a pipeline that will be an integral part of delivering gas to the Gas-to-Energy (GtE) Project, will be done this quarter.
According to oil giant ExxonMobil Corporation’s recently released second-quarter earnings, the company expects production of gross barrels per day to drop by 80,000 in the third quarter of 2024 when the shutdown occurs for the scheduled work to allow the GtE Project tie-in.
Earlier this year at a press conference, ExxonMobil Guyana President Alistair Routledge had said that during the shutdown, the company would also do debottlenecking activities on the Unity FPSO- that is, modifications to allow the vessel to produce above 250,000 barrels of oil per day. When the vessel was first commissioned, it had a target capacity of 220,000 barrels per day.

“Part of the Unity shutdown is going to include some additional debottlenecking work. We think we could produce above 250,000 barrels per day. Studies have demonstrated that that can be done,” the executive had said.
“So, in that shutdown, when we’re installing the risers, we’ll also be doing some debottlenecking, some additional modifications, some other planned maintenance work that we would have done a little later. We’ve accelerated forward. Integrity activity. So, other work in that shutdown will also be beneficial to the production capacity.”
When it comes to the Prosperity FPSO, which services Exxon’s third Payara project, the company has also been eyeing the possibility of increasing production there. Routledge had explained that they were going through reviews with government ministries and agencies such as the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“So, in Payara specifically, the FPSO itself is actually very similar to the Liza Phase Two Unity FPSO. So, all the studies that we’ve done would indicate a similar capacity, of 250,000 barrels per day with the existing facilities and relatively minor modifications that would not require any shutdown,” he had said.
On Friday, ExxonMobil announced its second-quarter earnings of US9.2 billion while adding that its Cash Flow from operating activities was US$10.6 billion and cash flow from operations excluding working capital movements was US$15.2 billion.
Exxon, through its local subsidiary EEPGL, is the operator of the Stabroek Block 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.
The Liza Phases One and Two and Payara Projects, all of which combined are producing over 600,000 barrels of oil per day, account for the three floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels operating in Guyana’s Stabroek Block in waters offshore.
The current production figures will be further buttressed by the Yellowtail and Uaru developments, which are already underway and are anticipated to contribute 250,000 barrels of oil each following their respective start-ups. Meanwhile, the Whiptail development has already received regulatory approval.
Meanwhile, the GtE Project includes the construction of an Integrated Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) plant and a 300-megawatt (MW) combined cycle power plant at Wales, West Bank Demerara, utilising natural gas from the country’s offshore operations in the Stabroek Block delivered by the very pipeline being connected to the FPSO’s.
Upon landing on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD) shore, the pipeline would continue for approximately 25 kilometres to the NGL plant at Wales, West Bank Demerara (WBD).
A whopping $80 billion was allocated in budget 2024 to advance the project and its associated infrastructure, including transmission and distribution upgrades to offtake the power.
In last year’s national budget, the project received a $43.3 billion allocation in addition to the $24.6 billion injected into the start-up of the transformational project, for the construction of an NGL Plant and the 300MW Combined Cycle Power Plant at Wales, WBD.