Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 08 2021

LatAmOil VENEZUEL A LatAmOil

One source told Reuters that NIOC and PDVSA Venezuela in order to secure an uninterrupted
had agreed last year to a full swap of Venezuela flow of refined products.
jet fuel to pay for the Iranian gasoline. Such deals are known as “perfect trips” in the
The jet fuel is reportedly being shipped in maritime industry, as vessels travel fully laden in
the same Iranian tankers that deliver gasoline to both directions. ™

GUYANA
ExxonMobil reports progress in

repair of Liza Destiny compressor

A subsidiary of ExxonMobil (US), the leader of did so again in January 2021, forcing ExxonMo-
the consortium that is developing the Liza-1 oil- bil Guyana to reduce output and increase the
field offshore Guyana, has reported progress in flaring of associated gas.
its efforts to resolve an equipment problem that Vickram Bharrat, Guyana’s Minister of
has disrupted production. Natural Resources, said earlier this week that
On February 23, ExxonMobil Guyana said Georgetown was working with the US major’s
that technical experts from Germany’s MAN local subsidiary to resolve the matter and bring
Energy had finished making adjustments in gas flaring down to lower levels. “We are work-
order to achieve the necessary clearances on a ing with them to ensure that it is fixed as early as
malfunctioning stake 3 flash gas compressor possible and further to that, we are working with
(FGC). The German team members have also them to ensure that the future FPSOs that are
begun the process of verifying internal machin- coming don’t have this problem,” he was quoted
ery profiles, it noted. as saying by OilNow.gy.
Then on February 25, the company noted Bharrat also emphasised that he hoped Exx-
that the FGC had been re-assembled. The com- onMobil would not experience similar problems
pressor is now being prepared for testing, it with the Liza Unity FPSO, which will be used
stated. to develop Liza-2, another section of Stabroek,
ExxonMobil Guyana has been updating the and other vessels. “[We] want them to use the
Guyanese government regularly on the state of experiences on Liza Destiny to correct the faults
the repair job, which began after the discovery on Liza Unity, which will be in Guyana soon –
of a compressor leak on the Liza Destiny, the and when I say soon, I mean before the year is
floating production, storage and off-loading out – and also on the Prosperity FPSO, which
(FPSO) unit that it is using to develop Liza-1. It should be here in another two years from now,
has said it expects the FPSO to resume normal so that the problem doesn’t keep recurring over
operations in April. and over,” he said. (The Prosperity is due to be
Gas leaks have been a recurring problem at installed at Payara, the third section of Stabroek
Liza-1. They disrupted production last year and cleared for commercial development.)

The Liza Destiny is being built at the Keppel FELS yard in Singapore (Photo: SBM Offshore)

Week 08 25•February•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9