By Sueann Wickham
ExxonMobil Corporation’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) along with its Stabroek Block partners are advancing steps to produce some 812 million barrels of oil from the Uaru Field by 2026/2027. At current Brent price which stood at US$77 a barrel on April 28, the resources are worth a whopping US$62.5B or GY$13T.
The partners could even earn more depending on their hedging plans over the period as well as market prices at that time.
During 2021 to 2022, oil prices reached a historic US$100 a barrel. As such, prevailing conditions could see more profits being earned.
The Ministry of Natural Resources gave the green light for the Uaru Field Development Plan (FDP) and also issued the Uaru Petroleum Production License on Friday, April 28. The documents were officially handed over to ExxonMobil Guyana’s President, Alistair Routledge.
The ministry was keen to note that the review process for the FDP took over four months while the overall approval process took over 11 months. “The November 1, 2022 submission of the production license application and accompanying Field Development Plan underwent a rigorous review process by MNR and GGMC (Guyana Geology and Mines) staff, supported by an independent consultant procured through the World Bank”, it stated.
The Uaru development is valued at US$12.7 billion and is expected to produce 812 million barrels of oil within the 20-year licence period. It will include up to 10 drill centres and 44 production and injection wells.
The floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel for this project which has been named ‘Errea Wittu’, is currently under construction by Japanese FPSO builder and operator, Mitsui Ocean Development &Engineering Company (MODEC0 under an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract.
Currently, there are two FPSOs, Liza Destiny and Liza Unity operating offshore Guyana and they produce an average of 375,000 barrels of oil per day. The third FPSO, the Prosperity, recently arrived in Guyana and is expected to be operational later this year, adding 220,000 barrels of daily capacity from the Payara development.
First oil for the Uaru project is anticipated in the second quarter of 2027, which will boost Guyana’s overall production rate to over 1,100,000 barrels of oil per day. In addition, the US$12.7 billion development cost will be subjected to cost recovery under the Stabroek Block Petroleum Sharing Agreement.
