Monthly oil production in the South American country of Guyana could top the 10 million barrel mark by 2022 with the coming on stream of a second phase of development in the prolific Liza field located approximately 120 miles offshore in the 6.6 million acres Stabroek Block.
ExxonMobil Affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited has submitted an application to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for environmental authorization as part of the company’s plans for a potential production concept for Liza Phase 2, set to come on stream by 2022.
The Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel will have a production capacity of approximately 190,000 to 220,000 barrels of oil per day. During the early stage of production operations, the project is anticipated to produce an average of approximately 5,700,000 to 6,600,000 barrels of crude oil per month. The company says in its project summary for the Liza Phase 2 development that these estimates are preliminary and are subject to change.
The Liza Phase 1 development which will bring first oil for Guyana in 2020 is targeted to produce around 120,000 barrels of oil per day – 3,600,000 barrels per month – in the early stage of production. This combined with the projection for phase 2 production, will at the high end, push monthly output to 10,200,000 barrels of oil.
At present Trinidad and Tobago is producing around 2.1M barrels of oil per month while Suriname is producing 510,000 barrels of oil per month. At its peak in 1978, the twin island Republic was producing around 6.8M barrels of oil per month. Trinidad produces significantly more natural gas than it does oil. At its peak in 2010 daily gas production was 4.3 billion cubic feet per day. This has now reduced to around 3.6 billion cubic feet per day.
The FPSO to be used in the proposed Liza Phase 2 development will have an oil storage capacity of approximately 1.6 to 2 million barrels of oil within its hull, depending on the selected hull. Its mooring system will be designed to keep the FPSO on station continuously for at least 20 years. At peak production during Phase 2, the FPSO will offload oil to conventional tankers approximately every 4 – 6 days.
ExxonMobil Affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds 45 percent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 percent interest and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25 percent interest.
