ExxonMobil to put in five FPSOs in 5 years – IMF says such production ramp-up “unprecedented”

ExxonMobil has said on several occasions that by 2025, Guyana is expected to produce up to 750,000 barrels of oil per day. But it would not achieve this by solely relying on the three Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels for the Liza Phase One Project, Liza Phase Two and the Payara Project (which is still awaiting government’s approval).

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has found that ExxonMobil would be introducing two more FPSOs into the Stabroek Block, bringing the total to five. The first FPSO, Liza Destiny, is expected to be in operation this month. The second FPSO, Liza Unity, is projected for hook up by 2022. The FPSO for Payara has a 2023 deadline.

the-liza-unity

The IMF noted that a fourth FPSO would be in Guyana’s waters in 2024 with the fifth vessel hooked up in 2025.
In a special report prepared for Guyana’s authorities, the IMF said that bringing on stream, five oil production projects in five years is “unprecedented.”

It said that if this were to be realised, Guyana would reach one of the highest ratios of oil daily production per capita in the world. The Fund did caution, however, that ExxonMobil’s production estimates could very well turn out to be “too optimistic.”
As the government continues efforts to recruit a Third Party Reviewer for the Payara Field Development Plans, ExxonMobil and its partners, Hess Corporation and CNOOC/NEXEN, are steaming ahead with plans to extract Guyana’s oil as quickly as possible from the Stabroek Block.

Oil production was initially projected to occur between January and March of 2020, but due to ExxonMobil’s impressive progress on all the necessary installations, that target has been brought forward to this month. While these plans are moving ahead for oil production from the Liza Phase One Project, ExxonMobil is ramping up its development plans for Liza Phase Two.

During its third quarter earnings, Hess Corporation had disclosed that development drilling of Liza Phase Two will commence in the first quarter of 2020 with first oil expected by mid-2022. Pending government approval, ExxonMobil is also eager to start oil production from the Payara field which is expected to utilise a Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel with a gross production capacity of 220,000 barrels of oil per day.

As it awaits a green light from government, ExxonMobil has been grating several contracts related to the construction of the FPSO to ensure it meets the 2023 deadline. And as it pushes ahead with those plans, ExxonMobil is also conducting drilling and appraisals of other wells to determine their productivity, all in an effort to maximise profits for its shareholders as quickly as possible.