Starting next week, ExxonMobil will be engaging the general public for considerations into an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the second phase development of the Liza field.
ExxonMobil’s Director of Public and Government Affairs, Kimberly Brasington told the Department of Public Information (DPI) on Wednesday that the company will begin “scoping meetings” with Regions Five and Six followed by Regions Two, Three and One and conclude with Region Four. Already, the company has engaged sector stakeholders.
Exxon had submitted a project summary for the Liza Phase 2 development to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for environmental authorisation. The document can be found on the EPA’s website: www.epaguyana.org.
“The process, as we understand it from the EPA, is that the public has a 28-day period right now to give feedback to the EPA of what they would like to see us consider in the EIA,” Brasington said. The Liza Phase 2 development is being considered a separate project from Liza Phase 1 requiring its own EIA.
The Liza field, located in the Stabroek Block, is estimated to contain more than one billion barrels of oil. Currently, Exxon and its partners, Hess Corporation and CNOOC Nexen, are developing Phase 1 for oil production in 2020.
Fabrication works for equipment that will be under the ocean are underway to progress Liza Phase 1. “The biggest milestone that happened at the end of last year, is the actual vessel that will be the FPSO, the Liza Destiny, arrived in the shipyard in Singapore and is starting the process of being dry docked and retrofitted to become the Liza Destiny,” Brasington pointed out.
Exxon is anticipating production will begin in Liza Phase 2 by 2022. The Phase 2 development will be similar to Phase 1 except it will be bigger, Brasington said.
“There will be between 35 and 40 development wells drilled with the same proportions, some will be oil producers, some will be gas re-injection wells and some water re-injection wells. And the reason there are more is because we are going to try to produce more as well from Phase 2,” Brasington explained.
While Liza Phase 1 is expected to produce 120,000 barrels of oil per day, Liza Phase 2 is being projected to produce as much as 220,000 barrels per day.
Brasington noted that the decision to split the development of the Liza field reduces the time and risk involved in such undertakings. Exxon invested an estimated US$4B in Liza Phase 1 which began in 2016. The company will announce its investment decision for Liza Phase 2 sometime in the future.
