Exxon drillships back in full operation offshore after closure of airports

Two of the drillships which were suspended by ExxonMobil following the implementation of the COVID-19 restrictions are back in operation.

The Stena Carron and the Noble Tom Madden are now operating at full capacity on the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana.

“They are returning to some of the development drilling that they were working on before the COVID-19 kind of restrictions were put in place,” ExxonMobil’s Senior Director of Public and Government Affairs, Deedra Moe told the News Room Wednesday.

Work was suspended following the closure of international airports to combat the COVID-19 pandemic; this affected the changeover of international crew members working offshore.

But Moe said ExxonMobil and the Government have established a process which has enabled the company to transport more workers into the country; they are screened and placed in isolation facilities both here and abroad.

“Because of that, we’ve had a lot of success, we’ve been able to rotate a lot of international workers on the two drillships…,” the ExxonMobil spokeswoman said.

The Liza 1 field provides for four drill centers with 17 wells in total; eight oil-producing wells, six water injection wells, and three gas reinjection wells.

There are also wells to be drilled for the Liza 2 field which is likely to start production in 2022.

A total of six drill centers are planned for the Liza 2 project as well as approximately 30 wells, including 15 production, nine water injection and six gas injection wells. This project will develop approximately 600 million barrels of oil.