Debottlenecking efforts at the Liza Unity floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel could boost its output to 270,000 barrels per day (b/d).
ExxonMobil Guyana President, Alistair Routledge, said the vessel underwent debottlenecking in July during a shutdown of the Liza field to hook up to the Gas-to-Energy pipeline.
Currently, the Liza Unity is producing 252,000 b/d.
“We believe that we could potentially increase the Unity up to 270,000 barrels per day,” Routledge told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.
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Before optimization could occur, Exxon would need regulatory approvals from the government to hike production to that 270,000 b/d. Routledge said discussions are currently underway with various agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ministry of Natural Resources. When asked about the factors influencing this decision, the ExxonMobil Guyana President emphasized that the process is highly methodical.
“We undertake multiple reviews of the facilities to identify the next bottleneck we should address,” he explained. “It was things like heat exchangers. We increased the capacity of heat exchangers…the trim on certain valves so that they have a slightly higher capacity.”
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All of this work is thoroughly documented, and it follows risk assessments that ensure the safety and functionality of the equipment. Once the technical adjustments in the field are completed, data is gathered—modeling, risk assessments, and the adjustments made—and then Exxon returns to the regulators. “We present this analysis to confirm that it’s safe to proceed. However, we won’t increase production until all parties are confident that the necessary work has been completed to the highest standard,” he explained.
The Liza Unity is the second FPSO to be built for Exxon for Guyana’s Stabroek Block and the first delivered under SBM Offshore’s Fast4Ward® program. The FPSO started production in February 2022. It initially targeted oil production at 220,000 barrels per day (b/d).
