Long before Guyana became a 900,000 barrel per day producer, there was only a single well drilled in deep water offshore.
In May 2015, ExxonMobil announced the Liza discovery in the Stabroek Block. The Liza-1 well, often referred to as the well from hell, encountered more than 295 feet (90 meters) of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs. It was safely drilled to 17,825 feet (5,433 meters) in 5,719 feet (1,743 meters) of water.
That find laid the foundation for Guyana’s first producing development.
Two floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels were deployed to develop the field: Liza Destiny and Liza Unity.
Liza Destiny was initially designed for 120,000 barrels of oil per day, with a storage capacity of 1.6 million barrels. First oil was achieved on December 20, 2019. After debottlenecking, the vessel was producing 130,000 barrels per day in December. In 2021, Destiny ranked fourth among the top five highest-scoring units for safety in SBM Offshore’s global fleet.
Liza Unity followed. Initially designed for up to 220,000 barrels per day, it achieved first oil in February 2022. By the end of 2025, after maintenance and debottlenecking, production reached 244,000 barrels per day.
The second major pillar came in January 2017 with the Payara discovery. The Payara-1 well encountered more than 95 feet (29 meters) of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs. It was drilled to 18,080 feet (5,512 meters) in 6,660 feet (2,030 meters) of water.
Production is anchored by the Prosperity FPSO. Output began in November 2022. The vessel reached 220,000 barrels per day just two months later, three months ahead of schedule. Prosperity achieved 101,000 barrels per day in 16 days. Liza Unity reached 68,000 barrels per day over the same period. Liza Destiny took six months to reach 100,000 barrels per day. Background flaring was completed 39 days after startup.
Yellowtail added another layer of scale. Announced in April 2019 as ExxonMobil’s 13th discovery in the block, Yellowtail-1 encountered approximately 292 feet (89 meters) of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir. It was drilled to 18,445 feet (5,622 meters) in 6,046 feet (1,843 meters) of water.
Production there is handled by the ONE GUYANA FPSO. The vessel began producing oil in August. It reached its initial production capacity of 250,000 barrels per day in November. In December, output stood at 262,000 barrels per day.
Liza, Payara and Yellowtail were discovered first. Today, they anchor Guyana’s offshore developments, each translating reservoir data gathered years ago into sustained production from some of the world’s largest deepwater projects.
