Another oil vessel sails to Guyana this year as ExxonMobil pushes for startup of 5th project

Guyana’s daily oil production, now past 900,000 barrels daily, will continue to surge with the arrival of a fifth Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, the President of ExxonMobil Guyana said Thursday.

The Errea Wittu FPSO will be used at the fifth development known as Uaru. Currently, more than 900,000 barrels of oil are produced from four projects in the giant Stabroek Block offshore Guyana: Liza I, Liza II, Payara, and Yellowtail.

“We anticipate later this year that the FPSO will sail to Guyana, and before the end of the year, we anticipate Uaru to start up,” Alistair Routledge told reporters at a press conference on Thursday.

“That will be consistent with the other projects, all ahead of schedule and indeed on budget too.”

The FPSO is a specialised vessel used in oil production. With Errea Wittu in Guyana, local production should go past one million barrels daily. More than 20 development wells have already been drilled at Uaru.

Meanwhile, ExxonMobil is also pushing ahead with future projects: Whiptail (2027), Hammerhead (2028), and Longtail. The Longtail Field Development Plan should be submitted by the company sometime this week, and the company looks ahead to securing the relevant environmental permits and licenses for this project.

Beyond oil production, ExxonMobil and the Government of Guyana are keen about harnessing vast gas resources offshore. Hammerhead and Longtail are key gas development projects.