Oil production to begin earlier than predicted

The arrival of the Liza Destiny –Guyana’s first oil production vessel –three weeks ahead of schedule indicates that oil production will be earlier than what was previously predicted.

According to Director of the Department of Energy, Dr Mark Bynoe, the arrival of the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel “means that we move earlier to production of first oil and to seeing the benefits of this industry impact Guyanese much faster.”

He was at the time addressing Government and business officials at a reception held to welcome Guyana’s first oil production vessel.

The reception was held at the Guyana Marriott Hotel, Kingston Georgetown on Monday evening by the Ministry of the Presidency and ExxonMobil, HESS and CNOOC.

The Liza Destiny arrived on August 29 and in a statement then, Dr Bynoe had again alluded to the early production of oil.

Oil production was set to begin in the first quarter of 2020.

Shortly after the reception, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan was asked about the possibility of oil production beginning this year but he pointed out that there was no particular date in the first quarter of 2020 for the beginning of production.

“But I am hearing now that the first quarter may be an outside date. I am not sure whether we’ll be able to get it this year or not…signs are encouraging,” the Minister said.

Minister Jordan was part of a team which visited the FPSO on Monday offshore the Stabroek Block.

ExxonMobil’s Country Manager, Rod Henson said the vessel is being prepared for production.

“While the Liza Destiny FPSO has arrived 190 Kilometres offshore, its work is just beginning. We are in a period called hook-up and commissioning –installing the moorings to the ocean floor, connecting flow lines and risers and testing all aspects of the facilities,” he noted.

Henson said the vessel’s arrival is a historic event and first oil will make “a turning point” in Guyana’s history.

The event ended with a toast from First Lady Sandra Granger who has been named Godmother of the ship during its commemoration in Singapore.

This FPSO is a significant component of the Liza Phase 1 development which involves four under sea drill centres with 17 production wells. It has a production capacity of 120,000 barrels of oil per day and an overall storage volume of 1.6 million barrels.

During normal operations, there will be at least 80 persons living and working onboard the vessel.