Guyana: Saipem offloads pipes for Liza Phase 1

Italian oilfield services company Saipem has offloaded the second shipment of pipes to be installed as part of Exxon’s Liza Phase One project offshore Guyana.

The Guyanese authorities have informed that the shipment arrived in Georgetown last week, and is the second of multiple shipments adding to the 1519 pieces of pipes received in December.

The delivery consists of oil production flow-lines and gas and water reinjection pipes. These pipes will be laid on the seafloor at the Liza Phase One Development, located approximately 120 miles offshore Guyana at a water depth of 1,800 meters

The pipes will be stored in Georgetown before being taken offshore in the second quarter of 2019 to be installed by the Saipem FDS2 pipe laying vessel.

Saipem won the contract for this phase of the Liza field development back in May 2017.

Under the contract, Saipem is to perform engineering, procurement, construction, and installation of the risers, flow lines, and associated structures and jumpers. The award also includes the transportation and installation of umbilicals, manifolds, and associated foundations for the production, and water and gas injection systems.

Furthermore, the Italian oilfield services giant in August last year secured the same workload for the Second Phase of the Liza project, too, with the work expected to begin upon the sanction of the Liza 2.

Liza development

The Liza field is located in the Stabroek block, which covers almost 27,000 square kilometers, circa 200 kilometers offshore Guyana. The field is a subsea development with a recoverable resource estimate of over one billion barrels of oil equivalent. It is expected to start production in 2020.

Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is the operator and holds 45 percent interest. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 percent interest, and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25 percent interest.

Liza Phase 1 involves the conversion of an oil tanker into a floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel named Liza Destiny, along with four undersea drill centers with 17 production wells. Construction of the FPSO and subsea equipment is underway in more than a dozen countries. Liza Destiny will have a production capacity of 120,000 barrels of oil per day.

A second FPSO with a capacity of 220,000 barrels per day is being planned as part of the Liza Phase 2 development, and a third is under consideration for the Payara development. The oil major has already applied for an environmental permit to develop the second phase of Liza with start-up expected by mid-2022.

Offshore Energy Today Staff