The offshore developments in Guyana are growing both in number and capacity, with the fourth proposed project at Yellowtail being designed to utilize a giant floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel capable of holding 2 million barrels of oil within its hull.
The vessel will have approximate dimensions of 340 m long by 60 m wide by 33 m deep (1,115 ft. long by 197 ft. wide by 108 ft. deep), and will be moored on location, approximately 200 km offshore, similar to the Liza Destiny FPSO which is currently producing oil at the ExxonMobil-operated Stabroek Block.
The FPSO will have a production capacity of approximately 34,977 m3 (220,000 barrels) and 39,747 m3 (250,000 barrels) of oil per day. Its mooring system will be designed to keep it on station continuously for at least 20 years. At peak production during Yellowtail operations, the FPSO will offload oil to conventional tankers approximately every 4 – 6 days.
According to the Project Summary submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency by ExxonMobil, during the early stage of production operations, the project is anticipated to produce an average of approximately 1,049,316 m3 – 1,192,404 m3 (6,600,000 -7,500,000 barrels) of crude oil per month. In comparison, the Liza Destiny FPSO is designed to produce around 3,600,000 barrels per month.
Onshore support facilities will be utilized for the project to support drilling the wells and installing and operating the offshore production facilities. This may include but is not limited to shorebases, warehouses, storage and pipe yards, fabrication facilities, fuel supply facilities, and waste management facilities in Guyana. Helicopters and supply boats will also be needed to support the Project.
At peak, the project will utilize approximately 1,200 personnel offshore during the stage when the wells are being drilled and the offshore oil production facilities are being installed. This number will decrease to less than 200 personnel during the production operations phase. A smaller number of personnel will be utilized at the onshore support facilities.
