ExxonMobil, partners greenlight third Guyana oil field development at Payara

Houston — ExxonMobil and its partners have taken a final investment decision to push ahead with their Payara field offshore project in Guyana after receiving approvals from the government for the $9 billion development plan, the company said late Sept. 30.

Payara, the third project on the South American country's Stabroek Block, is anticipated to produce up to 220,000 b/d of oil after output begins in 2024 using the Prosperity floating production, storage and offloading vessel, block operator ExxonMobil and partner Hess said in separate statements late Sept. 30.

"[The project] will develop multiple discoveries, including ... Pacora and parts of the Liza Field that were not optimal for development through the Liza Phase 1 and Liza Phase 2 projects – the first two developments on Stabroek," ExxonMobil spokesman Todd Spitler said.

The Payara development plan targets a roughly 600 million barrels of oil equivalent resource base, with up to 41 wells.

Gross production capacity from the partners' first three Stabroek developments, the first of which -- Liza Phase 1 -- is already online, is expected to reach approximately 560,000 barrels of oil/d in 2024, Hess said. Liza Phase 2 is currently under development.

The partners, which also include China's CNOOC, expect to have five drill ships operating offshore Guyana by year-end 2020, ExxonMobil said.

"We continue to prioritize high-potential prospects in close proximity to discoveries and maximize value for our partners, which includes the people of Guyana," Liam Mallon, president of ExxonMobil Upstream Oil & Gas Co., said.

ExxonMobil and partners are also evaluating additional Stabroek development opportunities, including some of their other discoveries on the block that include Redtail, Yellowtail, Mako and Uaru.

The Stabroek partners' first offshore Guyana project, Liza Phase 1, began producing in late 2019 -- four-and-half years after the Liza field was discovered in May 2015 and well ahead of the industry's average for development time. Hess said in early September that Phase 1 production would reach the FPSO's maximum capacity of 120,000 b/d shortly.

Liza Phase 2 is on track to begin producing oil by early 2022. It will produce up to 220,000 b/d of oil at peak rates using the Liza Unity FPSO, which is under construction in Singapore.

The 18 discoveries on the block to date have confirmed the potential for at least five FPSO ships on Stabroek to be producing more than 750,000 b/d of oil by 2026.