The third oil platform in the Stabroek Block – the Liza Prosperity – is currently producing an average of around 100,000 barrels per day as it ramps up to the 220,000 nameplate capacity, Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat has said.
Giving an update on the floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel that arrived in April of this year, Bharrat said that it is not yet at its capacity.
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 has said.
“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,” ExxonMobil Guyana Production Manager Mike Ryan had said when the vessel arrived here.
The Liza Destiny FPSO is currently producing up to 150,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), up by 30,000 after debottlenecking, a process of optimizing capacity. Its storage capacity is 1.6 million barrels.
As for the Liza Unity FPSO, it is also producing 30,000 more barrels than had been announced as it moved from 220,000 bpd to 250,000 bpd after the same optimizing process. Its storage capacity is some two million barrels.
If all the FPSOs are producing at an optimized 30,000 bpd of their designed capacity, it would mean that in 2024, this country would see daily oil production of 650,000 bpd.
“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 push daily production to some 600,000 barrels a day in 2024,” ExxonMobil had said when the vessel arrived.
The Minister of Natural Resources, had told this newspaper that two United Kingdom companies would be marketing the oil from the three FPSOs in the Stabroek Block. JE Energy, will be the marketers of oil coming from the Liza-1 platform which uses the Liza Destiny FPSO, while BB Energy will market oil from the Liza-2 and Payara platforms which use the Liza Unity and Liza Prosperity FPSOs, respectively.
Neither of the companies will charge the government for the marketing and will instead pay, in the case of BB Energy Limited, US 26 cents on every barrel it sells. JE Energy plans to pay some US 70 cents on each barrel of crude it markets.
As at the end of November 2023, the Bank of Guyana stated that this country’s Natural Resource Fund closing balance was USD equivalent $2,031,259,961.65.
