Exxon preparing for successful start-up of repaired gas compressor this week

ExxonMobil Guyana on Tuesday announced that teams of experts are making final preparations for the start-up of the flash gas compressor sometime this week on the Liza Destiny Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO).

This is in keeping with the company’s promise to stick to an eight weeks’ resolution, by the end of March 2021.  The compressor, once installed, will return operations to normalcy and reduce the current levels of flaring being done, restoring it to “background levels”.

“With safety top of mind, the team offshore has been carefully and methodically reassembling the various components of the gas compression system, and are now running key instrumentation tests for a successful start-up,” a statement from the company noted.

The compressor failed on the night of January 27, 2021, and ExxonMobil had subsequently announced that it had reduced production. At the time, the oil giant was reportedly producing 130,000 barrels of oil per day, 10,000 barrels above what has always been stated as the maximum production – 120,000 barrels of oil per day.

The company assured in its latest statement that throughout this period, it has sought to strike a balance between safely maintaining production while minimising flaring.

“We have kept relevant government agencies and other stakeholders informed about the progress of the repairs and reinstallation,” the statement added.

In addition, ExxonMobil said that while the issues with this equipment have been disappointing and the COVID-19 circumstances have been challenging, they are committed to applying the lessons learned to improve the performance of its ongoing operations as well as future projects.

The company continues to produce oil at 120,000 barrels per day and said flaring is maintained as low as possible; the current daily levels are between 16 – 18 million cubic feet.