Exxon’s investment decision for Liza Phase-2 delayed

Dr. Mark Bynoe

ExxonMobil has had to delay a Final Investment Decision (FID) on its Liza Phase-2 project as a result of the Guyana government’s move to carefully assess Field Development Plans (FDPs).

Word of the delay on the FID for Liza Phase 2 came via online oil and gas magazine Upstream. When contacted for a comment yesterday on the development, Head of the Department of Energy Dr Mark Bynoe told Sunday Stabroek, “…we want to make decisions from a position of knowledge. As you would have known, we advertised for international expertise to help us review the FDP that was submitted for Liza 2. So that would have to go through a process review before we actually provide any approvals. Since the expertise is not evident here, we had to advertise for that. The fact that it is going through a process possibly has postponed the decision (FID), from the operator’s standpoint.”

The planned evaluation of the Liza Phase-2 FDP would mark a sharp departure in the government’s handling of ExxonMobil’s plans. The Guyana Government approved Exxon’s FDP for the Liza-1 well relying only on a technical evaluation that had been done by international consulting firm WorleyParsons without an examination of the projected costs for the development.