ExxonMobil on Wednesday reported progress on the installation of a repaired component of the third stage flash gas compressor on the Liza Destiny Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) oil platform in the Stabroek Block, offshore Guyana, and announced that it has applied for approval to flare above pilot levels for equipment testing.
“The upgraded and repaired discharge silencer of the third stage flash gas compressor and a new venturi were safely installed on the Liza Des-tiny and the first phase of testing was successfully completed earlier this week,” Exxon’s local Governance and Public Affairs Advisor Janelle Persaud said in a statement.
She disclosed that the flash gas compression system was started up on June 19th for the first testing phase and was shut down on June 28th in order to remove temporary probes and instrumentation. She noted that during the first testing phase the team was able to reduce flaring to pilot level.
Further, she said that initial test results indicate improvements in pulsation dampening performance.
“The second phase of testing will begin on July 4. Upon successful completion, we expect the system to continue into normal operation,” she added before disclosing that Exxon has applied to the Environmental Pro-tection Agency (EPA) for approval to flare above pilot level for this extended period of equipment testing to ensure that they remain in compliance with our environmental permit.
Additionally, she said, the new redesigned flash gas compressor is being manufactured and is expected to arrive in the country during the fourth quarter of this year.
Since January this year, ExxonMobil has experienced major problems with the gas compression equipment on Liza Destiny and this has led to environmentally-damaging gas flaring.
President of ExxonMobil Guyana Alistair Routledge had said that the gas compressor failed in the middle of the night on January 27 this year, when optimisation testing was ongoing and the production level was around 130,000 bpd. However, he maintained that this was not in any way linked to the malfunction.
Following the malfunction, the gas compressor and other key parts from the FPSO were sent to Germany for repairs. A few weeks later, it was announced that logistics for its departure from Germany were being finalised following 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 vessel’s owner SBM Offshore as well as Exxon.
On April 13, ExxonMobil announced that its third phase of testing of repaired gas compression equipment on the Liza Destiny had failed and that this had resulted in production being slashed to 30,000 barrels. However, several days later the Company said that it has begun ramping up output and that a solution was at least three months away during which controversial flaring would occur. The gas compressor was sent to Houston, Texas in the United States for repairs.
With the compressor having had to be repaired twice during the early part of this year, the EPA modified the Environmental Permit for the Liza Phase 1 Development Project mandating EEPGL to pay for gas flaring once it continues beyond a 14-day period.
