Italian multinational oilfield services company Saipem is in the process of executing pipelaying work with the Crane Ship Saipem FDS 2, for phase 2 of ExxonMobil’s Liza Development offshore the South American country of Guyana.
The Saipem FDS 2 is nine years old and can work in water depths of up to 3,000 metres. It has a maximum length of 183 metres, a moulded breadth of 32 metres and a moulded depth of 14.5 metres and it’s equipped with a vertical J-lay tower with a maximum capacity of 2,000 tons designed to J-lay sealines of up to 36” diameter, in water depths of up to 3,000 metres.
The vessel is said to be also capable of ‘S-laying’ sealines and equipped with the cutting-edge DP3 dynamic-positioning system with a maximum transit speed of 13 knots.
In 2018, Saipem was awarded a contract by Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), an affiliate of ExxonMobil, for the second phase of the Liza development to the tune of 700 million USD. The company was previously awarded a similar contract for the Liza Phase 1 Development which has been producing oil since December 2019.
The US$6 billion Liza phase 2 development will have a total of six drill centers as well as approximately 30 wells, including 15 for production, nine for water injection and six for gas injection. Production start-up is expected by mid-2022.
The project will utilize the Liza Unity FPSO which is currently being constructed in Singapore. The vessel will have a gross production capacity of 220,000 barrels of oil per day and will develop approximately 600 million barrels of oil.
Subject to government approvals and project sanction by the Stabroek Block partners, Saipem will also perform the detailed engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) of around 130 km (81 mi) of flowlines, rigid risers, associated terminations and jumpers along with the installation of manifolds, flexible risers, dynamic and static umbilicals and flying leads for the proposed Payara Development.
