The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) expects Guyana to add about 90,000 barrels of crude per day (bpd) to its current output, according to the January monthly oil market report.
This would lift Guyana’s 2023 output 32 million barrels more than the 101 million barrels produced in 2022 by the ExxonMobil-operated projects.
OPEC placed Guyana among seven non-OPEC producers that will be key drivers of supply growth. The others are the United States, Norway, Brazil, Canada, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Russia. Together, the seven countries are expected to add some 1.54 million bpd.
A few operational developments are expected offshore Guyana, which will impact crude production.
The Payara project is expected to achieve first oil this year. A naming ceremony for Prosperity floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel was held in Singapore, at the beginning of February. The vessel is expected to leave for Guyana this quarter, where it will produce about 220,000 bpd at peak.
The Liza Phases One and Two projects started the year with production at 140,000 bpd and 220,000 bpd respectively. The Liza Destiny and Unity had a combined production average of 297,000 bpd for 2022. They are expected to perform Production is expected to be maintained at or above nameplate for most of the year. Hess said the co-venturers are considering some downtime in the fourth quarter at Liza Phase Two to facilitate optimisation on the Liza Unity.
The Guyana government expects average production offshore Guyana to be 374,000 bpd. Guyana’s Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, said the anticipated ramping up of oil production in 2023 will be the main driver of the 25.1% economic growth the government expects in 2023.
