Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 19 2021

LatAmOil GUYANA LatAmOil

ExxonMobil Guyana further stated that it SBM Offshore of the Netherlands revealed that
intended to “take significant steps to incorpo- ExxonMobil Guyana’s contractors were still
rate the lessons learned” as a result of equipment working to fix the Liza Destiny’s faulty flash gas
problems on the Liza Destiny, the FPSO that is compressor (FGC). The repair job is due to be
being used to develop Liza-1, the first section of finished in July, and a redesigned FGC system is
Stabroek to come on stream. It has had to stop slated to be installed in late 2021, it added.
or curtail production at Liza-1 several times ExxonMobil Guyana is exploring and devel-
because of problems with the vessel’s gas com- oping the Stabroek block in co-operation with
pressor system, and it has also come under fire Hess, an independent US-based company, and
because the disruptions forced it to increase the a unit of China National Offshore Oil Corp.
flaring of associated gas. (CNOOC). It has found a total of 19 oil-bearing
The firm is also taking a closer look at issues fields found at Stabroek, and it estimates that
related to environmental contamination, as the block contains more than 9bn barrels of oil
well as water and waste management, the appli- equivalent (boe).
cation noted. “Additional studies are ongoing The block may eventually produce as much
or planned with regard to flare minimisation, as 1mn barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil. Yields
emergency response and environmental com- at the first production site – Liza-1, which came
pliance monitoring and verification. The learn- on stream in December 2019 – are set to peak
ings from these and other environmental studies at 120,000 bpd. Liza-2 and Payara, which are
will inform the design and implementation of due to begin operating in 2022 and 2024 respec-
the Yellowtail project, increasing environmental tively, will add another 250,000 bpd each, as will
performance and economic value,” it said. Yellowtail.
ExxonMobil Guyana is currently working to
Compressor system revamp decide which fields to target in the fifth and sixth
The EPA made its announcement shortly before stages of development. ™

Guyana set for first licensing round in 2022

GUYANA’S government has indicated that it
intends to move forward with its first offshore
licensing round next year.
Officials in Georgetown told Argus Media
earlier this week that they expected to launch
the bidding contests in “early 2022.”
They did not say whether they were aiming to
begin the process on any specific date, but they
did state that the government wanted to wrap up
its efforts to revise the terms of production-shar-
ing contracts (PSCs) before proceeding with
auctions.
They also reported that Georgetown was
aiming to make some policy changes in advance
of the bidding round. The government intends
to change the regulatory structure of the domes-
tic oil industry by setting up a petroleum com-
mission, they said. The commission will serve
as the country’s main oil agency, they explained.
The officials, who were not identified, spoke
to Argus Media shortly after President Irfaan Ali President Irfaan Ali’s administration will adopt
reiterated that he intended to introduce a new a new model for oil contracts (Photo: op.gov.gy)
model for assigning oil blocks to investors. Ali
informed reporters last week that his govern- New contract model
ment was moving away from direct negotiations Members of Ali’s administration have been
with international oil companies (IOCs) and critical of former President David Granger’s
would instead conduct licensing rounds. The practice of negotiating with individual oil com-
bidding contests will be much less opaque, with panies or consortia. They have asserted that this
contracts awarded to the party that submits the model results in the signing of contracts that are
most attractive offer, he said. more far favourable to outside investors such as
“It will now be a public and open bidding ExxonMobil (US) than to host countries with
process in which we will be looking for the best respect to the division of crude oil and natural
offers,” he remarked. gas revenues.

Week 19 13•May•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9