ExxonMobil’s Liza Unity FPSO arrives in Guyana

U.S. oil major ExxonMobil has confirmed the arrival of the Liza Unity floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel at the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana.

The FPSO for the second phase of Exxon’s Liza development started its journey from Singapore to Guyana in September.

The vessel was in Singapore for the topside integration phase, which was done by Keppel.

The FPSO Liza Unity was awarded the SUSTAIN-1 notation by the classification society in September. According to the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), it is the first FPSO in the world to receive this. The vessel arrived in Guyana on Monday. The production from the Liza Phase 2 development is on track to start in early 2022.

Mike Ryan, Production Manager of ExxonMobil Guyana, stated: “I’m so proud of the Unity team. The sail itself is long. The advent of COVID-19 was challenging, but the team was resilient, pushed through and delivered a beautiful FPSO that’s here in Guyana. We’re all really excited that she’s joined the neighbourhood next to Liza Destiny, and we’re really looking forward to the next few phases as we bring this FPSO online into 2022.”

The Liza Unity FPSO has an expected capacity of 220,000 gross bopd. It is also the first FPSO delivered under SBM Offshore’s Fast4Ward program. The FPSO will be connected to the spread mooring before undergoing preparations for testing and commissioning. Over 2,860 Guyanese have worked on ExxonMobil’s exploration and development activities in Guyana, according to the company.

“The development concept and our work on the Liza Unity FPSO have been guided by our enduring values: personnel safety, operational quality, executing on commitments to shareholders and resource owners and bringing energy to the world while respecting our commitment to the environment and communities in which we operate,” explained Ryan.

According to ExxonMobil’s affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana, the third development, Payara, will utilize the Prosperity FPSO with an expected capacity of 220,000 gross bopd and the first oil is expected in 2024.

The company says that a fourth development, Yellowtail, which was identified on the Stabroek Block is anticipated to start in 2025, although, it is still pending government approvals and project sanctioning. The firm expects to have at least six FPSOs on the Stabroek Block by 2027, with the potential for up to 10 FPSOs to develop the current discovered recoverable resource base.

Esso as the operator, increased the gross discovered recoverable resource estimate for the block to approximately 10 billion boe, up from the previous estimate of more than 9 billion boe.