The Liza Phase 1 Development has reached another incredible milestone—installation of the first subsea tree.
A subsea tree monitors and controls the production of a subsea well. Affixed to the wellhead of a completed well, it can also manage fluids or gas injected into a well.
ExxonMobil Guyana said on Monday the tree arrived in Guyanese waters on the Chouest C-Installer in February. Installation and testing began on April 11 and lasted for 4 days.
The company said it was lowered into the water from the back deck of the multipurpose installation vessel via a crane, set in 1700 meters of water onto the first completed well, latched, and locked into place using a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV). The valves were then pressure tested.
The next tree is expected to be installed in May.
The Liza Phase 1 development includes a subsea production system and a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel designed to have the capacity to process up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day from four subsea drill centers consisting of 17 wells, including eight producers, six water injectors, and three gas injectors.
Production startup is scheduled for early 2020.
