Guyanese inspectors to assume responsibility for testing offshore crude oil

The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) has said it is prepared to assume responsibility for testing crude oil extracted from the country’s offshore fields this year, ahead of the planned launch of the Liza-2 development project.

GNBS has been involved in the testing of crude since December 2019, when the country’s first oilfield, Liza-1, began commercial production. However, it has been working with other government agencies and partners to build and expand its capacities on this front so that it would be able to manage the testing independently. It has said previously that it hoped to take the reins in 2022, and it announced in a statement dated January 14 that it had been able to meet this goal.

According to the statement, this process involved, among other things, the issuance of an official order authorising GNBS to measure and certify the crude oil being lifted onto the Liza Destiny, the floating production, storage and off-loading (FPSO) unit installed at Liza-1. Since then, bureau inspectors have been travelling to the vessel on a rotational basis to carry out monitoring operations.

In 2021, GNBS took further steps to optimise and streamline its operations by establishing a specialised oil and gas department. It also brought its own standards related to the accuracy of tank gauging, flow meters, sampling and testing of crude in line with those used by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with API to fortify its relationship with that body.

Additionally, ahead of the arrival of the Liza Unity FPSO at the Liza-2 field, the bureau hired six new inspectors to manage monitoring operations at both sites. It provided training to both the new hires and to existing personnel to ensure that all inspectors were properly informed on their job functions and on safety procedures for offshore facilities. As a result, it said, GNBS is now ready to take responsibility for monitoring and testing of crude lifted onto both the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity FPSOs.

As of this January, it added, bureau inspectors will be checking for two of the five relevant parameters. Once they acquire additional equipment, as they are expected to do very soon, they will be able to assess “density and viscosity, basic sediments and water, salt in crude, hydrogen sulphur in crude and water content,” it explained.

Liza-1, located within the Stabroek block, is currently yielding around 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil. The Liza-2 field, meanwhile, is slated to come on stream before the end of the first quarter of this year and will produce around 220,000 bpd. Both are being developed by a consortium led by a unit of ExxonMobil (US).