Liza Destiny sets sail
DPI, Guyana, 2019, Thursday, July 18, 2019
The very first oil production vessel to be placed in Guyana’s waters, the Liza Destiny, has departed Singapore for these shores.
According to a press release issued on Thursday from ExxonMobil, the Liza Destiny has a production capacity up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day and an overall storage volume of 1.6 million barrels.
The Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel is expected to arrive in September as the nation prepares for first oil in less than a year.
During normal operations, there will be at least 80 persons living and working onboard the vessel. The release stated that twenty-four Operations and Maintenance technicians, who are currently being trained in Canada, will return in 2020 to support work on the Liza Destiny.
It was noted that the FPSO “is a significant component of the Liza Phase 1 development which involves four undersea drill centres with 17 production wells.”
Country Manager Rod Henson expressed his satisfaction with the work done so far. “We have more than 1,000 Guyanese working for the project here, and the team is continuing to do an incredible job.”
Their duties include everything from completions of the initial wells for production to laying pipelines and infrastructure on the seafloor to eventually connect up to the Liza Destiny for production.
“We’re proud of the work being done every day and want to thank everyone involved for their focus on safety and keeping the protection of the environment top of mind in all that they do,” Henson remarked.
On June 22, 2019, First Lady, Her Excellency Sandra Granger officially dedicated the Liza Destiny at the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore. In her remarks, the First Lady acknowledged the importance of this project and industry to Guyana.
“I think it is a fitting name [Liza Destiny] … because we are talking about destiny, we are talking about the long-term and we are talking about vision – not only the production but also the process and what comes behind it. I hope that this ship will bring to us the people of Guyana, not only physical prosperity, but greater cohesion, greater development and of course the sustainability of our country, and its people and culture.”
In keeping with tradition and naming protocols, the dedication is performed by a woman who is termed the “godmother of the vessel” to bestow good luck and divine protection over the ship and all who sail aboard.
The Liza Destiny FPSO was transformed from the oil tanker, “Tina”, a VLCC [Very Large Crude Carrier] built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea. The contract for its conversion was awarded to SBM Offshore in July 2017.
The vessel is designed to produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day and will have associated gas treatment capacity of approximately 170 million cubic feet per day and water injection capacity of around 200,000 barrels per day. The converted VLCC FPSO will be moored in water with a depth of 1,525 meters and will be able to store 1.6 million barrels of crude oil.