One of the issues affecting the granting of approval for the Payara Field Development Plan (FDP) is the overlapping of its Well on the Liza field, according to Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat.
As such, the operator ExxonMobil may have to re-mark the boundaries for the Payara Field or settle for a Liza phase three project approval.
“Liza Well is already under a Production License Agreement and if you’re going to grant a Payara license which includes part of the Liza agreement, then of course you know there will be a lot of implications legally there,” Bharrat told the media on Monday during an interview on the sidelines of the ongoing Budget debates.
Bharrat said the legal and technical teams at the Ministry on Monday met with ExxonMobil to iron out some of the issues.
He hopes that both sides will be able to come to an agreement by the end of this week.
“That is something we’re trying to work out as best as possible this week, whether they remark the boundaries, whether we issue a Liza Three license agreement, they will review at the technical level and advise the Government on how we move forward,” the Natural Resources Minister noted.
Oil production started in December 2019 on the Liza Phase One development using the Liza Destiny Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel designed to produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day, with a storage capacity of up to 1.6 million barrels.
The Liza Phase Two project is expected to start up in mid-2022 using the Liza Unity FPSO designed to produce up to 220,000 barrels of oil per day.
The two projects combined have a total of 47 wells including 23 oil-producing wells, 15 water injection wells and nine gas injection wells.
Meanwhile, the Payara Field will have up to 45 Wells, including production Wells, water injection Wells and gas injection Wells.
The Payara development plan includes a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, named Prosperity; it is expected to produce 220,000 barrels per day.
Upon election to office, the People’s Progressive Party Government has engaged a Canadian team of experts to re-examine the work done of the Field Development Plan under the former administration.
There are several environmental issues also barring the approval of the project and the Canadian experts are also looking at the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
ExxonMobil has been pushing for the approval of the project with its recently appointed country manager Alistair Routledge even saying that the company can take its money elsewhere if the plan is not approved.
ExxonMobil’s affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) holds 45 percent interest in the Stabroek Block while its partners Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 percent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25 percent interest.
