Guyana’s fourth Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, the “One Guyana”, currently under construction in Singapore, is expected to set sail to Guyana early next year.
This was revealed by President of ExxonMobil Guyana Alistair Routledge during a press conference last week.
“The hull is fully constructed, the first module has been lifted onto the topside, it’s come out of the drydock, and now all the other modules that need to go onto the topside of the FPSO are being finalised and added on,” he explained.
“Most of the remainder of the year will then be integration, how to integrate all the modules, the cabling, the pipework, and everything else…”
The goal is for the FPSO to set sail from Singapore to Guyana around the end of the first quarter of 2025.
There are currently three FPSOs operating in Guyana’s offshore waters: The Liza Destiny, the Liza Unity and the Prosperity, working on the Liza One, Liza Phase Two, and Payara projects, respectively.
The “One Guyana” FPSO will operate on ExxonMobil’s fourth project, Yellowtail.
It is being constructed by SBM Offshore, a Dutch-based global group of companies. SBM Offshore had constructed the previous FPSOs.
Meanwhile, the Yellowtail development is located in the eastern portion of the Stabroek Block and involves the development of the Yellowtail and Redtail fields.
Production is scheduled to begin in 2025, with an estimated investment of US$10 billion. Moreover, the project is expected to generate approximately 1,300 jobs across four phases.
It was previously reported that the development plan for Yellowtail includes six drill centres and the drilling of up to 67 development wells.
Meanwhile, the “One Guyana” FPSO will be able to produce 250,000 barrels of oil per day and will also have a storage capacity of two million barrels of crude oil.
The vessel will be designed to perform produced water treatment functions as well as oil separation and gas injection. It will include a flare tower, safety system and power generation capability, and crude metering system.
Six FPSOs are expected to be online offshore Guyana by 2027.
The fifth FPSO will be named ‘Errea Wittu’ and this will operate in the Urau project. It will have oil storage capacity of two million barrels, and oil production design rate of 250,000 barrels of oil per day.
The FPSO will be able to offload approximately one million barrels onto a tanker in a period of approximately 24 hours. This vessel will be delivered by MODEC, a Japanese company.
The start-up of the US$12.7 billion Uaru development is targeted in 2026. Meanwhile, Errea Wittu means ‘abundance’ in the local Warrau language.
Meanwhile, MODEC has since confirmed the construction of the FPSO, with a ceremony held on February 2.
Moreover, the sixth FPSO will be named Jaguar, after Guyana’s national animal and is earmarked for the Whiptail Project.
“We submitted the EIA last year, we submitted the field development plan, we’re working through multiple reviews and queries from the government and advisors…,” Routledge said, in giving an update on that project.
He expressed hope that by the end of this quarter, “we’ll have cleared all of those questions and we can align around the environmental permit and the production licence.”
Whiptail, which will cost some US$12.9 billion, is also expected to have a production capacity of 250,000 barrels of oil per day, with startup expected in late 2027 or early 2028.
Whiptail is the last project on ExxonMobil’s list of six to come online by 2027 in the Stabroek Block. It will take total production offshore Guyana to more than 1.3 million barrels of oil per day.
