A very large crude carrier (VLCC), the Cobalt Nova, executed a double lift offshore Guyana, transporting two million barrels of oil to Panama, marking another instance of back-to-back cargo loading from the ExxonMobil-operated Stabroek Block this year.
The Cobalt Nova took a one-million-barrel cargo from the Liza Unity floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel in late February, before moving to the Liza Destiny FPSO for an additional one-million-barrel lift in early March.
The Cobalt Nova’s double lift follows a similar operation by another VLCC, the Red Nova, which took two one-million-barrel cargoes offshore Guyana between February 20 and 25, ultimately delivering the crude to the Netherlands.
Panama is emerging as the top destination for Guyanese crude outside of Europe in 2025. While the Netherlands remains the top recipient of Guyanese oil so far this year, it tied with Panama in February, with four lifts going to each country.
Guyana’s crude exports have been largely Europe-bound, with 11 of February’s 16 cargoes—each approximately one million barrels—heading to the region, according to vessel tracking data from MarineTraffic, Maritime Optima, and VesselFinder. Europe’s 11 includes two shipments to Turkey.
Crude lifted from Guyana is produced exclusively from the Stabroek Block. Exxon’s co-venturers are Hess and CNOOC. The block currently produces over 650,000 barrels per day (b/d) from three FPSOs, with capacity expected to exceed 900,000 b/d by year-end, following the planned startup of a fourth vessel, the ONE GUYANA FPSO.
A total of 20 crude lifts were recorded in January, compared to 16 in February—a reduction partly attributed to the shorter month.
