Repaired equipment ready for return to Liza Destiny FPSO, ExxonMobil says

A contractor for ExxonMobil (US) has completed repair work on faulty equipment from the Liza Destiny, the floating production, storage and off-loading (FPSO) vessel that is being used to develop Liza-1, the first producing oilfield at the Stabroek block offshore Guyana.

According to an operational update published by the US-based super-major’s subsidiary in Guyana on March 8, Germany’s MAN Energy is now ready to return the flash gas compressor (FGC) and silencers to the FPSO. Janelle Persaud, the company’s public and government affairs advisor, said in the update that she expected the delivery process to be initiated before the end of the week.

“This follows the successful completion of repairs, upgrades and mechanical testing of the compressor by MAN Energy Solutions, the equipment’s manufacturer, with quality assurance and control by experts from the [FPSO] vessel’s owner SBM Offshore, as well as ExxonMobil,” Persaud said.

The Liza Destiny’s crew will be ready to put the compressor and silencers back in place as soon as they arrive, she added. Work teams have already begun to prepare the rigging and lifting structures needed to re-install the equipment, she explained.

Meanwhile, she noted, representatives of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are visiting the FPSO to conduct a routine inspection.

In related news, Persaud said separately on March 9 that ExxonMobil had begun drilling an exploration well at Koebi, another section of the Stabroek block. She told OilNOW.gy that the Stena Carron drillship had already spudded the Koebi-1 well at a site about 218.5 km from the coast. As of press time, it was not clear when the new shaft might be completed.

Liza-1 is one of 18 oilfields that ExxonMobil and its partners China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) and Hess (US) have discovered at Stabroek to date. The block is believed to hold more than 9bn barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in recoverable reserves. Liza-1 came on stream in December 2019, and Liza-2, which will be developed by another FPSO called the Liza Unity, is scheduled to follow suit in 2022. ExxonMobil aims to start production at a third section, Payara, in 2024.