US supermajor Exxon intends to produce crude from deepwater Guyana onto floating production storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs). Exxon has had extraordinary success in Guyana with almost 20 discoveries since May 2015. The company began production in December 2019 from the Liza Phase 1 development using the SBM Liza Destiny FPSO.
After its latest discovery Uaru 2 in April 2021, Exxon has indicated that Guyana has the potential to support up to 10 FPSOs since their estimated recoverable resource of approximately 9 billion oil equivalent barrels is set to increase.
Thus far, Exxon has commissioned 3 FPSOs through SBM.
At present, SBM already has one FPSO in operation, the Liza Destiny. The Liza Destiny was developed by SBM Offshore and is designed to produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day, with storage capacity of up to 1.6 million barrels.
According to SBM’s operational review, further work is being done on elements of the flash gas compression system which is expected to be delivered during the month of July 2021. Additionally, plans initiated in 2020 are progressing to install a redesigned third stage flash gas compression system at the end of this year. SBM Offshore is continuing to work closely with the client and with the equipment manufacturer in order to expedite resolution of the situation.
The second FPSO commissioned is the FPSO Liza Unity. According to SBM, following the completion of the topside lifting campaign during Q1 2021, work is further progressing on integration and commissioning stages. The project continues to target first oil in 2022 in line with client planning. The third FPSO that SBM is building is the FPSO Prosperity. The topsides fabrication started in the yards in Singapore. The project is progressing according to schedule with a planned completion in 2024. To further develop local capabilities, Guyanese companies were awarded contracts and started the fabrication of FPSO components in Guyana. In addition, Guyanese engineers have been hired and integrated into the project execution team.
The Prosperity FPSO will utilise a design that largely replicates the design of the Liza Unity FPSO. As such, the design is based on SBM Offshore’s industry leading Fast4Ward® programme that incorporates the Company’s new build, multipurpose hull combined with several standardised topsides modules. The FPSO will be designed to produce 220,000 barrels of oil per day, will have an associated gas treatment capacity of 400 million cubic feet per day and water injection capacity of 250,000 barrels per day. The FPSO will be spread moored in water depth of about 1,900 metres and will be able to store around 2 million barrels of crude oil.