The early arrival in Guyana’s waters of ExxonMobil’s third FPSO has underlined the determination of the company – and the government here – to extract oil as rapidly as possible from the country’s lucrative offshore Stabroek Block.
ExxonMobil Guyana yesterday announced the arrival of the Prosperity Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel in Guyana waters.
In a statement, ExxonMobil said that production from Payara, Guyana’s third oil platform, is expected to begin later this year. When the licence agreement for Payara was signed on September 30, 2020, it was stated that production would begin in 2024. With the arrival yesterday, it would mean that production will begin in around three months, way before 2024.
Constructed by SBM Offshore, the Prosperity will develop the Payara field in the offshore Stabroek block. It has an initial production capacity of around 220,000 barrels of oil per day and an overall storage volume of two million barrels, ExxonMobil said in a statement.
“The arrival of the Prosperity FPSO is a testament to the strong partnership between ExxonMobil Guyana, the government of Guyana, our co-venturers and the many suppliers that support our operations. We are excited to contribute to Guyana’s energy future and create lasting opportunities for the nation’s growth and prosperity,” said ExxonMobil Guyana Production Manager Mike Ryan.
The Prosperity FPSO joins the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity FPSOs, which are currently producing more than 380,000 barrels per day. Production from the Prosperity vessel is expected to up daily production to some 600,000 barrels a day in 2024. Both the Liza Destiny and Unity are already producing above their rated capacity. The Liza Destiny was assigned a capacity of 120,000 barrels per day and the Liza Unity 220,000 barrels per day.
ExxonMobil Guyana yesterday said that installation campaigns are ongoing and development drilling is underway to support Prosperity’s start-up later this year.
When the licence agreement was signed on September 30, 2020, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat had said: “Nine billion dollars is the single largest investment in the history of Guyana. It is estimated, if oil per barrel is at US$50, we will get US$35 billion or $7.4 trillion over the life of the Payara. This is just Payara alone, so this is huge for this country. Our start up time for this project is aimed at 2024 and we are working to meet that [goal]… US$35 billion for a well? I would take that any day. We will work towards that any day”.
The 2024 startup date had also been confirmed by SBM Offshore on May 12, 2021. SBM, a global group based in the Netherlands, was contracted by ExxonMobil to build all three oil platforms.
During the Company’s quarterly trading update on May 12, 2021, Chief Executive Officer of SBM, Bruno Chabas had said the project was progressing according to schedule with a planned completion in 2024
The Guyana Government has made no secret of its desire for accelerated oil production from the Stabroek Block.
ExxonMobil’s second oil platform, the Liza Unity arrived in Guyana’s waters on October 26th, 2021. It began producing oil on February 11, 2022, a little over three months later – the same period likely for the operationalizing of the Prosperity platform.
