Liza Unity hook-up nearly complete

ExxonMobil (US) and its partners have nearly finished hook-up procedures for the Liza Unity, the floating production storage and off-loading (FPSO) vessel that will support development operations at Liza-2, an oilfield at the Stabroek block offshore Guyana. Topside readiness is nearly complete, and the field can come on stream as soon as the FPSO is commissioned, according to Greg Hill, COO of ExxonMobil’s partner, the US independent Hess.

Hill noted that the Liza Unity would support more than twice as many wells as the Liza Destiny, the FPSO installed at the Liza-1 field, where a total of 17 wells were drilled. The second development project at Stabroek “involves approximately 35-40 wells at two subsea drill centres, consisting of a combination of producers and injectors to support production of oil, injection of water and reinjection of associated gas,” he explained.

The Liza Unity is scheduled to begin production in the first quarter of 2022 and is expected to reach its full production capacity in the third quarter of the year. According to previous reports, it will be able to handle a maximum of 220,000 barrels per day of oil. This is almost double the capacity of the Liza Destiny, which has a capacity of 120,000 bpd.

The FPSO was built in Singapore and arrived in Guyanese waters last October, after nearly 53 days and 11,000 nautical miles (20,400 km) of travel. Guyana’s First Lady Arya Ali marked the arrival of the ship, which is the first FPSO in the world to be awarded the SUSTAIN-1 notation by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS).

The vessel was awarded this distinction because of the sustainability of its design, documentation and performance. In order to qualify for this award, the design and construction of the Liza Unity had to meet the standards of the ABS Guide for Sustainability Notations, as well as those stipulated by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Liza-2 is one of more than 20 oilfields discovered at Stabroek since 2015. The block is known to hold at least 10bn barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in recoverable reserves.

ExxonMobil and its partners, Hess and China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), aim to bring their third development target, the Payara field, on stream in 2024. The fourth target, Yellowtail, will follow suit in 2025. (The first, Liza-1, has been in production since late 2019.)