Oil production offshore Guyana has soared from an initial 120,000 barrels per day (b/d) with the Liza 1 development to more than 600,000 b/d, as additional projects come online and equipment on the oil production vessels are optimized to safely increase output.
ExxonMobil, operator of the Stabroek Block, currently has three projects online, all of which are utilizing floating production storage and offloading vessels built and operated by Dutch floater specialist SBM Offshore.
Chief Executive Officer of SBM Offshore, Øivind Tangen, said the company uses real-time data to adjust the design of its offshore assets, removing conservative assumptions made in early planning stages. “When you design an offshore asset, there’s a lot of theoretical assumptions… As you get the real data, that gives you an opportunity to optimize… and take the conservative parts out,” Tangen said in an Oct. 4 interview with OilNOW.
He highlighted that SBM Offshore works closely with ExxonMobil to maximize production rates without exceeding the design and operating envelope of the vessels. This process, known as debottlenecking, involves making minimal or no modifications to the asset. “It’s been a case here which has led to increase in production throughput, perfectly within the operating envelope of the original design and the safety barriers that we have in place, in that design,” he added.
This approach of using real-world data to refine operations is standard across the offshore industry and has been particularly successful in Guyana, driving a significant increase in output.
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Debottlenecking efforts on Guyana’s second FPSO – Liza Unity – could see it producing around 270,000 b/d. But before any optimization occurs, ExxonMobil must secure regulatory approvals from the Guyanese government.
Discussions are ongoing with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ministry of Natural Resources, according to ExxonMobil Guyana President Alistair Routledge.
Routledge explained that the process is thorough and highly methodical. “We undertake multiple reviews of the facilities to identify the next bottleneck we should address,” he said, citing examples like increasing the capacity of heat exchangers and making slight modifications to valve trims.
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These adjustments follow rigorous risk assessments to ensure the safety and functionality of the equipment. After technical modifications, ExxonMobil gathers data, conducts modeling, and prepares risk assessments.
“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,” Routledge explained.
