ExxonMobil’s Yellowtail project is ramping up oil production, with four tankers lifting cargoes from the ONE GUYANA floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel in September.
A typical cargo is approximately one million barrels.
The FPSO, designed to produce up to 250,000 barrels of oil per day (b/d), began pumping crude on August 8. Yuan Bei Hai, the first tanker, lifted crude on August 26 and transported it to the Netherlands. That initial 18-day gap between start-up and first lift reflected the expected slow build-up of volumes during commissioning. Since then, however, the intervals between shipments have steadily narrowed, data from Marine Traffic and Vessel Finder shows.
According to online vessel trackers, the second tanker, Nordic Zenith, took oil from Yellowtail on September 6, 11 days after the first. The third, Nordic Tellus, followed on September 16, narrowing the interval to 10 days further. The fourth lift was completed on September 24, just eight days later, using the Nordic Galaxy, and the fifth was taken by the Seaways Rio Grande tanker on September 28, a mere four days after the previous shipment.
The increase in cargo volumes indicates an uptick in production at the Yellowtail project compared to August. ExxonMobil Guyana’s Production Manager, Huzefa Ali, said during an event on October 2 that the project will reach its full oil production capacity in a month.
The loading frequencies of the four oil development projects offshore Guyana, based on reports from the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), suggest that production in September exceeded 700,000 b/d, up from 685,000 b/d in August.
Yellowtail is the fourth producing project offshore Guyana, joining Liza 1, Liza 2 and Payara. Together, the developments give the country more than 900,000 b/d of installed production capacity. All four are situated in the prolific Stabroek Block, operated by ExxonMobil, along with partners Hess, recently acquired by Chevron, and CNOOC.
