SBM Offshore FPSO up and running in Guyana: First oil gushes out of ExxonMobil’s 4th project

August 11, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

Netherlands-based SBM Offshore, a provider of design, construction, installation, and operation of offshore floating facilities, has put its new floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel into production mode, enabling ExxonMobil’s fourth oil project at the Stabroek block to come online off the coast of Guyana.

ExxonMobil disclosed the start-up of oil production from Guyana’s newest FPSO, One Guyana, on August 9, 2025, as the fourth such unit delivered for Guyana, bringing the country’s total installed capacity to over 900,000 barrels of oil a day (bopd). The vessel arrived from Singapore to Guyanese shores on April 15, 2025, and achieved a mooring milestone in the South American country the following month.

The FPSO One Guyana brings online the ExxonMobil-operated Yellowtail development, sanctioned in April 2022 as the U.S. oil major’s fourth project in the Stabroek block, which encompasses six drill centers and up to 26 production and 25 injection wells. The operator describes this project as the largest Guyanese development to date, with an initial annual average production of 250,000 bopd.

The production start-up was achieved four months ahead of schedule, allowing the FPSO One Guyana with a storage capacity of two million barrels to join other units, including FPSOs Liza Destiny, Liza Unity, and Prosperity, in the oil production business at the Stabroek block. The oil produced from the FPSO will be marketed as Golden Arrowhead crude. ExxonMobil expects to have a total production capacity of 1.7 million oil equivalent barrels per day by 2030 from eight developments.

Dan Ammann, President of ExxonMobil Upstream Company, highlighted: “Yellowtail’s ahead-of-schedule startup is a significant milestone for ExxonMobil and the people of Guyana. With Guyanese making up more than 67% of the country’s oil-and-gas workforce and over 2,000 local businesses engaged, this project reflects our deepening roots in the country and our shared commitment to long-term, inclusive growth.”

The U.S. player fired up four complex offshore mega-projects under budget and ahead of schedule in five years, while simultaneously advancing plans for four additional projects by the end of the decade. ExxonMobil Guyana operates the Stabroek block and holds a 45% interest, with Hess Guyana Exploration, now part of Chevron, holding 30% and CNOOC Petroleum the remaining 25%.

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Ammann emphasized: “Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our team, we achieved startup four months ahead of schedule and under budget, making this our fourth FPSO online just 10 years after discovery.”

The U.S. giant, which is set on deploying six FPSOs with a gross production capacity of over 1.2 million barrels of oil per day at the Stabroek block by 2027-end, has hinted at the possibility of up to ten FPSOs being employed to develop the estimated gross discovered recoverable resources of over 11 billion boe.