Addressing concerns about its volume of natural gas flared to date, ExxonMobil yesterday assured that it was working fervently to fix problems with its compressor equipment offshore and said that the lessons learned will be applied to its next Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel, as well as future projects.
“The current situation is a temporary, unplanned event related to project startup. Across our operations, ExxonMobil has programmes in place to improve operations integrity, thus reducing downtime and upsets that can result in flaring. Additionally, we are capturing lessons so we can apply to the Liza Unity and other projects moving forward,” the company’s Public and Government Affairs Officer Deedra Moe said in response to questions from the Stabroek News on the issue.
“We are doing all we can to repair the equipment safely in order to complete final commission of the system. As we have said, we have also reduced crude oil production to lessen the amount of gas being flared. ExxonMobil’s commitment to minimizing the environmental impact of its projects is reflected by our design of the Liza Destiny and Liza Phase 1 project. Our operations in Guyana will not utilize routine flaring,” Moe also assured.
The last Sunday Stabroek reported that as a result of persistent compressor problems, production at the Liza-1 has plummeted from 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) to now between 25,000 and 30,000 bpd as the company restricted flaring to no more than 15 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
It followed reports that at the Liza-1 operations, some 9 billion cubic feet of natural gas was flared and a number of persons as well as global environmental and human rights organisation, the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), pointed to the effects of the greenhouse gas emissions on the environment, as they condemned the act.
As it flayed Exxon for the large volume of flaring, CIEL called on the company to heed environmental pollution warnings and immediately stop the flaring, while adding that Guyanese should press for a pausing of works offshore and let ExxonMobil first answer “fundamental questions about its commitment to the environment in the country” while assessing its capacity to monitor the works offshore.
It was EPA Director Dr Vincent Adams who had updated the public on the issue and also stated that the company had informed him that it was taking the decision to reduce flaring and was mulling sending the equipment out of the country.
The announcement of the steep drop in production came even as it was anticipated that by the middle of this month production would have reached Liza-1’s peak 120,000 bpd target.
“They have encountered additional issues with the compressor valves and are mulling taking it out of the country because [the] current COVID-19 [pandemic] hinders requisite onboard expert personnel in an expeditious manner and the number of persons they want there,” Adams had related.
He said that the company has committed to rectifying the issue with its compressor and stop the flaring “by July” as its officials have lamented that the company has faced much embarrassment over the issue. “We are pushing them to have it resolved swiftly; the earliest possible time would be what we are looking for but they are looking in July. Their target is no later than July,” he said.
ExxonMobil’s Government Affairs Advisor also pointed to COVID’s impact on the operations of the company but said that they were coping.
“These are certainly some unprecedented times, which have impacted the way ExxonMobil operates in Guyana and around the world. Fortunately, ExxonMobil has well-established processes in place to manage impacts related to infectious disease outbreaks. While drilling was slowed because of travel restrictions, we have been able to make adjustments to ensure our workforce remains safe as we maintain some amount of continuity. We have sought government alignment to bring workers into the country and they are appropriately screened and isolated before entering Guyana, while here and after deployment offshore. Operations on two of our drill ships, the Stena Carron and the Noble Tom Madden, which were temporarily suspended, are now back to full operations as we are able to increase the number of rotational offshore crew passing through our screening process. Of course, the health and safety of our workforce, our contractors and the communities in which we operate is paramount,” Moe said.
“On the Liza Destiny, we continue to safely complete final commissioning of the gas handling system. As we increased production in mid-May, we encountered some issues with the compressor system during a performance test. Repairs were initially delayed in order to observe travel restrictions and safety and isolation protocols related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Key specialist technicians are required to repair the units, but must first pass through travel restrictions and undergo a two-week COVID-19 screening process,” she added.
Moe said that as the company works to resolve the issues, they “have reduced the amount of gas being flared by cutting crude oil production at the Liza Destiny.”
“The issues encountered were unexpected, and we are working to have the equipment repaired as quickly as safely possible. Throughout the process, we have been in regular communication with the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy,” she said.
“We are currently still in the start-up period for Liza Phase 1 which involves temporary flaring to fully commission the gas compression and injection systems for safe operations as outlined in the approved environmental impact assessment and permit,” she added.
