ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd. is advancing a proposed gas-to-energy project offshore Guyana with recent contracts.
The operator let a contract to TechnipFMC for the project aimed to connect production from Liza Destiny and Unity in Guyana’s Stabroek block back to shore, delivering associated gas from the field to a gas-fired power plant along the coast that will supply electricity to the community.
Subject to final project sanction, TechnipFMC will provide engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) of subsea risers and pipelines, the service provider said in an Aug. 1 release.
The contract, subject to the project’s final sanction and government approvals, is valued by the service provider at $75-250 million.
TechnipFMC currently employs more than 85 Guyanese and expects to continue to hire and train additional local staff in support of this award, the service provider said.
The award follows a separate contract let to Subsea 7 and Van Oord for the offshore project that covers project management, engineering, and installation of about 190 km of natural gas pipeline in water depths up to 1,400 m, with an associated shallow water portion and onshore approach making landfall to the west of the Demerara River.
Van Oord's scope consists of the shore approach, utilizing horizontal directional drilling methodology, and installation of 75 km of pipeline nearshore. Van Oord will deploy its shallow water pipelay barge Stingray in water depths of up to 28 m and start its operations in mid-2023, the marine contractor said in its own release Aug. 1.
The pipeline will transport 50 MMscfd of gas, enough to power a 300 Mw power plant, Van Oord said. Power demand in Guyana is expected to grow significantly in the next 5 years, along with a development strategy to replace heavy fuel oil with natural gas as its main energy source, the company continued.
A definitive contract value was not provided, but Subsea 7 values its share at $150-300 million.
Liza field, in Stabroek block about 190 km offshore in the Guyana basin, is the first offshore development project to produce oil in Guyana (OGJ, Feb. 7, 2022, p.21).