ExxonMobil says it plans to slowly ramp-up oil production in the coming months at its first development offshore the South American country of Guyana where daily output at peak is expected to hit 120,000 barrels per day.
The company announced on Friday that it had begun oil production at the Liza Phase 1 Development located approximately 190 km off the Guyana coast at the Stabroek Block in water depths of 1,500 to 1,900 meters.
The project features four drill centers with 17 wells in total; eight oil producing wells, six water injection wells, and three gas reinjection wells. It will utilise a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel – the Liza Destiny – built by Dutch floater specialist, SBM Offshore.
“What we typically do is we will slowly ramp up production over a series of months and this allows us to gather information on these individual wells and how they produce and it also just allows us to bring on the processing equipment in a more controlled fashion just to ensure that everything is done exactly right,” stated Rod Henson, President of ExxonMobil Guyana.
The Liza-1 well was the first significant oil find offshore Guyana, made in 2015. It encountered more than 295 feet (90 meters) of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs and was safely drilled to 17,825 feet (5,433 meters) in 5,719 feet (1,743 meters) of water.
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 Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds 25 percent interest.
