First Lady Arya Ali is the “godmother” of the Liza Unity, the second floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) which will operate in the giant oilfields offshore Guyana in the block held by ExxonMobil and its partners.
The vessel is twice the size of the one currently in operation. It is built to produce 220,000 barrels of oil per day with an overall storage volume of up to two million barrels.
The First Lady dedicated the ship on Saturday at a ceremony held at Cara Lodge in Georgetown, marking the beginning of the ship’s sail from Singapore to Guyana.
The ship is expected to start up by 2022.
Traditionally, the vessel “godmother” bestows luck and protection over the vessel and crew during its journey.
“This project will materialize in the form of local content growth; meaning more jobs for Guyanese and more opportunities for local businesses and increased revenues, which, when prudently managed, will certainly help us to achieve many of the aspirational goals which have been outlined by the Government of Guyana,” the First Lady stated.
She said the discovery and responsible development of oil and gas resources in Guyana makes her “optimistic that our collective efforts to eliminate poverty, reduce economic disparities and further advance efforts to unite this great nation, will bear fruit.”
The First Lady said it is her fervent hope that “our generation will be properly positioned to continue these efforts and accelerate Guyana’s development, enabled in part by oil and gas.”
“The construction of the Liza Unity FPSO meets our objective of maximizing value for our partners, the government and people of Guyana. With the addition of Liza Phase 2, those revenues will multiply, and utilization of local content will continue to grow, bringing important benefits to the country,” ExxonMobil Guyana’s president Alistair Routledge is quoted by ExxonMobil Guyana as saying.
Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat spoke to the impacts of the project on the continued growth of the industry.
The hull for the Liza Unity FPSO was built by Chinese shipyard ‘Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding. It is based on SBM Offshore’s Fast4Ward programme, and it is the first FPSO in Guyana to incorporate the company’s “design one, build many” approach. The topside modules were constructed and added to the hull by Keppel at their shipyard in Singapore.
