ExxonMobil launches production at Liza-2

ExxonMobil (US) and its partners launched commercial operations at the Liza-2 oilfield offshore Guyana on February 11, marking the start of their second development project at the Stabroek block.

The US super-major issued a statement announcing first oil at Liza-2, saying that the Liza Unity floating production, storage and off-loading (FPSO) unit had come on stream. The vessel is on track to reach its full design capacity of 220,000 barrels per day (bpd) later this year, it said.

When the Liza Unity achieves this milestone, it will combine with the Liza Destiny, the FPSO installed at the Liza-1 field, to bring the Stabroek block’s production up to more than 340,000 bpd. The latter vessel, which came online in late 2019, is currently operating above its design capacity of 120,000 bpd, the statement noted.

Liam Mallon, the president of ExxonMobil Upstream Oil and Gas, hailed the launch of Liza-2, noting that the company had brought the field into production quickly and stressing that the project could generate substantial benefits for Guyana. “We are collaborating closely with the government and people of Guyana to develop this world-class resource responsibly, helping to meet the world’s energy needs and delivering enhanced value for all stakeholders at a record pace and well ahead of the industry average,” he commented. “With unparalleled project execution, we now have two production facilities operating offshore Guyana.”

In its statement, the US giant pointed out that the project had already generated economic benefits for Guyana. “More than 3,500 Guyanese are now supporting ExxonMobil’s activities in Guyana,” it said. “ExxonMobil and its direct contractors spent approximately $219mn, with more than 880 local suppliers in 2021, a 37% year-on-year increase.”

Additionally, it pointed out that further investment would be flowing into the Guyanese economy as the third and fourth development projects came on stream at Stabroek. Payara, the third project, will begin production in 2024, with Yellowtail following suit in late 2025, it said in its statement.

Gas injection

In the meantime, the company’s near-term focus will be on ramping up operations at the Liza Destiny. Mike Ryan, production manager at ExxonMobil Guyana, explained in a video posted on social media sites that this process would focus on bringing the FPSO’s gas compression systems into operation so that associated gas from the Liza-2 field could be re-injected back into the reservoir rather than flared. He indicated that the partners had learned a great deal from the challenges they experienced with gas compression at the Liza-1 field.

“The introduction of first oil and hydrocarbons, it’s a momentous milestone that we’ve achieved,” Ryan said on February 11. “It is a single milestone on the journey and we still have a lot of work to do. The spirit of the team is confidence and calmness, and resilience to continue the journey towards full gas compression and injection, and that’s where we want to get. We’ll continue to ramp up production numbers. But at the moment, we’re squarely focused on commissioning the gas compression train.”

Meanwhile, the start of production at Liza-2 has also won praise from Guyana’s government. Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat said on February 11 that he welcomed the news of the launch of Liza-2. “The government of Guyana and citizens welcome the operation of this new FPSO to sustainably extract and manage the country’s oil and gas resources, which will further enhance earnings from this sector to drive Guyana’s infrastructure development and improve the delivery of services to all citizens,” he declared.

ExxonMobil is serving as operator of the Stabroek project and holds a 45% stake in the block through its subsidiary ExxonMobil Guyana. The remaining equity in the project is split between the US independent Hess, with 30%, and China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), with 25%. The partners have made more than 20 commercial discoveries at Stabroek since 2015 and estimate the licence area’s recoverable reserves at more than 10bn barrels of oil equivalent (boe).