ExxonMobil started production today at Payara, Guyana’s third offshore oil development on the Stabroek Block
A release from the company said that this will bring total production capacity in Guyana to approximately 620,000 barrels of oil per day.
The Prosperity floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel is expected to reach initial production of around 220,000 barrels per day over the first half of next year as new wells come online. This extra capacity will be the third major milestone towards reaching a combined production capacity of more than 1.2 million barrels per day on the Stabroek Block by year-end 2027.
“Each new project supports economic development and access to resources that will benefit Guyanese communities while also helping to meet the world’s energy demand,” said Liam Mallon, president of ExxonMobil Upstream Company in the release. “We’re pleased to work in partnership with the Guyanese government to make reliable energy accessible and sustainable.”
ExxonMobil Guyana projects that six FPSOs will be in operation on the Stabroek Block by year-end 2027. Yellowtail and Uaru, the fourth and fifth projects, are in progress and will each produce approximately 250,000 barrels of oil per day. The company is working with the government of Guyana to secure regulatory approvals for a sixth project at Whiptail.
The release said that Prosperity joins the Liza Unity as two of the world’s first FPSOs to be awarded the SUSTAIN-1 notation by the American Bureau of Shipping in recognition of the sustainability of its design, documentation and operational procedures. It added that ExxonMobil’s Guyana developments are generating around 30% lower greenhouse gas intensity than the average of ExxonMobil’s upstream portfolio.
Some 6,000 Guyanese are now supporting ExxonMobil Guyana’s activities in the country, representing more than two-thirds of the local oil and gas workforce, the release added. The company and its direct contractors have spent more than US$1.2 billion with more than 1,500 Guyanese suppliers since operations began in 2015. Production started in December 2019.