ExxonMobil produced 34.05 million barrels of crude in the first quarter of 2023 from the Liza projects offshore Guyana, at 378,340 barrels per day (bpd). Output peaked at 408,860 bpd.
Liza Phase 1 produced 13.598 million barrels at 151,090 bpd. The project peaked at 156,880 bpd on March 13. This project was originally meant to produce at 120,000 bpd but was optimised and now safely sustains production at 150,000 bpd.
Phase 2 produced 20.453 million barrels at 227,250 bpd. The project peaked at 253,350 bpd on March 15. This project was designed to produce 220,000 bpd but has demonstrated production in excess of 240,000 bpd. Exxon plans some downtime later this year to optimise it, with a goal of 250,000 bpd. This would place it on par with the larger, more expensive projects currently in the pipeline, like Yellowtail and Uaru.
For more on production in the earlier months, see below:
Production in January 2023 | OilNOW
Production in February 2023 | OilNOW
In March, Liza Phase 1 produced 4.78 million barrels at 154,120 bpd. Phase 2 produced 6.82 million barrels, at 220,010 bpd. Collectively, the Liza field produced 11.6 million bpd, at 374,140 in March.
At the daily production levels demonstrated in the first quarter of 2023, the Liza field would produce more than 130 million barrels of crude in a full year. This would represent growth of more than 30% over the 101.4 million barrels produced in 2022. However, production is expected to be negatively impacted by planned downtime later this year to optimise Phase 2. And this would be partially offset by the start-up of Payara, expected in the fourth quarter.
Payara, the third project, will take production offshore Guyana to 600,000 bpd. By then, Guyana will be one of the higher per capita oil producers in the industry, on its way to the top of the pile when Yellowtail starts up in 2025.
Exxon is the operator of the Stabroek Block, where these projects are situated, and has a 45% stake. Its co-venturers are Hess, with a 30% stake, and CNOOC, with 25%.
Read more about ExxonMobil’s plans for the Stabroek Block below:
A timeline of Exxon’s oil development projects in Guyana | OilNOW
