Gov’t worked with Exxon for maximum production – Minister Bharrat

─ welcomes 120,000 barrels per day achievement

The Government of Guyana says it welcomes the announcement by US oil and gas company ExxonMobil that it has reached maximum production of 120,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) – a success to which it has contributed.

Minister of Natural Resources Hon. Vickram Bharrat said the Government has been working along the oil and gas major, for some time now.

“We have been working with Exxon over the last couple of months to ensure we reached maximum production. It is something we have worked with Exxon and we expect the rate to improve to maximum production,” Minister Bharrat told DPI on Sunday.

He said production was below 100 bpd because of the issue with the gas compressor, which resulted in increased flaring. With that being fixed, Minister Bharrat said it has minimised the flaring and maximised production.

Low production had also resulted in only four crude lifts, instead of five.

The US oil and gas major Sunday announced the Liza Destiny floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel reached full capacity of 120,000 bpd and successfully commissioned the gas injection system.

“We are incredibly proud of the tremendous work of our team in overcoming the challenges of the past year and safely bringing us to where we are today,” said

ExxonMobil Guyana President Alistair Routledge. “This resilient group, which includes a growing number of Guyanese professionals, continues to persevere through the COVID-19 pandemic and initial startup challenges to deliver a world-class project.”

The company said more than 6,000 personnel have been transferred offshore without a safety incident or case of COVID-19 on the offshore facilities. it said overall, the Liza Destiny FPSO team has achieved one year and more than one million hours of work without a recordable safety incident.

“ExxonMobil Guyana is committed to the responsible development of the country’s natural resources and will not utilize routine flaring during our operations,” Routledge said. “We are disappointed by the number of equipment issues experienced and that, because of these issues and COVID-19, commissioning of the gas injection system took longer than originally projected. We took significant steps to limit flaring and are incorporating lessons learned for future projects.”

It said investment in the local economy continues to increase as the Liza Phase Two and Payara projects advance. More than 2,100 Guyanese are now supporting activities on and offshore. ExxonMobil and its key contractors have spent over GY $69 billion with more than 700 local companies since 2015.