Attorney Melinda Janki had last year urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) not to allow ExxonMobil and its partners to produce higher than 120,000 barrels of oil per day from the Liza-1 well as that would be going beyond its design limits and would be dangerous.
This issue has assumed significant interest in light of recent gas compression problems on the Liza-1 which has seen ExxonMobil resuming flaring above pilot levels to ensure “safe” operations. Whether the compression problems are linked to production levels has not been established but in recent days, Exxon’s partner Hess has spoken publicly about going beyond 120,000 barrels per day.
In a terse statement on January 29 2021, Exxon said: “There was a technical issue regarding a seal on the gas compressor on Liza Destiny. This unfortunate incident resulted in us having to temporarily increase our flare above pilot levels in order to maintain safe operations”.
