Guyana to lift first crude entitlement from offshore Liza field

Sugarland, Texas — A crude oil tanker is scheduled to arrive in Guyana on Thursday to lift the country's first 1 million-barrel crude entitlement from the offshore Liza field, the director of Guyana's department of energy said Wednesday.

The Greece-registered tanker Cap Philippe will transport the oil produced by the Stabroek block consortium that includes ExxonMobil, Hess and China's CNOOC, Mark Bynoe said in a statement.

The country is expected to have at least five cargoes lifted this year, Bynoe said.

Guyana's first three cargoes from the block have already been sold to Shell, the department said in December. The government did not disclose the volume or price of the December transactions when Shell emerged as the winner among other international bidders.

According to one market source, the cargoes to Shell Western Supply and Trading were traded around minus $1.50/b and minus $2.00/b versus Dated Brent on an FOB basis.

Another market source said Friday that Hess has sold 1 million barrels of Liza crude for loading March 17-18.

Offers for Liza crude cargoes for March delivery were heard at around plus 70-75 cents versus Dated Brent on an FOB basis before word of the deal. But one source noted the trade was likely made at a discount, not a premium, to Dated Brent because of crude demand destruction related to the coronavirus outbreak in China.

ExxonMobil imported the first cargo (525,730 barrels) of Guyana's medium sweet Liza crude into the US Gulf Coast's the Port of Houston on February 3, according to data from the US Customs Bureau and S&P Global Platts. The crude is believed to be destined for the ExxonMobil refinery located in Beaumont, Texas, according to sources.

As of Monday, 2.7 million barrels had been produced from Stabroek since the first oil flowed December 20, Bynoe said.

PRODUCTION TO GROW

Liza is a medium sweet crude with 32.1 API gravity and 0.51% sulfur produced at the Stabroek block. The consortium has made 16 discoveries at Stabroek since May 2015.

Only two phases of the deepwater development have been sanctioned, although a third phase, from an early find named Payara expected to produce up to 220,000 b/d, is being studied for sanctioning.

The partners have said they envision five Stabroek developments online by 2025, producing more than 750,000 b/d. ExxonMobil recently raised the group's assessment of the resource potential at the block from 6 million boe to more than 8 billion boe.

The companies said Liza Phase 1 production will shortly peak at 120,000 b/d of oil. Liza Phase 2 was sanctioned this year and is expected to produce up to 220,000 b/d when it comes online in mid-2022.