ExxonMobil Corporation’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) is expected to receive final government approval for its Uara project within the next 2-3 weeks, said Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo during a recent press conference.
In response to questions about the project on Thursday the Vice President said, “So, the Uaru Project, that is going through a final review with the Ministry (Ministry of Natural Resources) staff, and we expect that to be done within a short period.” That short period according to Jagdeo may be a maximum of about two to three weeks.
He also stated that, “The Environmental Protection Agency also has its permit to issue for the project, and I gather that is near completion. So, I think that within the same timeline, they should be ready for the Uaru; both the EPA permit and the licences for that project.”
The Uaru project is Exxon’s fifth deep-water development, and will involve the development of the Uara field located in the Stabroek block offshore Guyana, which may cost approximately $12.7 billion. The project will focus on extracting crude from the Uaru, Mako, and Snoek fields, which have an estimated recoverable resource of 1.3 billion barrels of oil-equivalent.
To achieve this goal, Exxon will use a subsea system that will be connected to the Errea Wittu floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which is being delivered by MODEC Inc.
Last year, MODEC was awarded the contract to perform Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) for the FPSO vessel. It will have oil storage capacity of two million barrels, and an oil production design rate of 250,000 barrels per day (bpd). The FPSO will also be capable of offloading approximately one million barrels onto a tanker in a period of around 24 hours.
The Uaru project is expected to commence with construction activities in later this year and the project will represent a significant milestone for ExxonMobil, as it seeks to expand its operations in the region.
Based on the company’s estimates, first oil is set for late November next year.
