Liza Oil Field, Stabroek Block

Liza oil field is a deepwater discovery located in the Stabroek Block, approximately 190km offshore Guyana, in water depths of 1,500m-1,900m.

Being developed in phases, Liza is the first producing oil field among the eight oil discoveries made in the Stabroek Block between 2015 and 2018.

Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, is the operator of Stabroek Block and holds 45% interest. The remaining interests in the block are held by Hess Guyana Exploration (30%) and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana (25%).

The $4.4bn Liza phase one development commenced production in December 2019. Its peak production capacity is estimated to be 120,000 barrels of oil per day (boed).

The proposed Liza phase two development is expected to be completed in 2023 and produce up to 220,000boed.

Liza oil field discovery and development history

Discovered by the Liza-1 discovery well in May 2015, the Liza oil field was appraised by three appraisal wells during 2016 and 2017, which confirmed recoverable oil resources in excess of one billion barrels of oil equivalent.

A baseline 4D seismic survey over the Liza field was also completed in 2017.

EEPGL received environmental permit as well as a production license for Liza phase one development in June 2017 and announced the final investment decision for the project in the same month.

The Noble Bob Douglas drill ship arrived in Guyana in March 2018 and started drilling the Liza phase one development wells in June 2018.

Stabroek Block reservoir details

Spread over 26,800km² in Guyana’s offshore waters, the Stabroek Block was estimated to contain more than four billion barrels of oil equivalent as of August 2018. Drilling has been ongoing with the use of Stena Carron ultra-deepwater drillship to explore and evaluate other potential areas of the block.

Liza is the first and the biggest discovery in the Stabroek Block. Other seven discoveries in the block are Liza Deep, Payara, Snoek, Turbot, Ranger, Pacora, and Longtail.

EEPGL plans to develop the Payara field located north-west to the Liza discovery, upon completion of the Liza phase one and phase two developments.

Liza oil field phase one development details

The Liza phase one development involves 17 wells, comprising eight production wells, six water injection wells and three gas injection wells, and a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel with the capacity to produce up to 120,000boed.

Other subsea infrastructure for the project includes five manifolds, three production risers, one dynamic control umbilical tied back to FPSO, and three static infield umbilicals.

The Liza-1 FPSO facility is expected to process roughly 450 million barrels of oil from the Liza Field.

Liza-1 FPSO details

The Bahamas-flagged Tina Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) was converted into the Liza-1 FPSO, named Liza Destiny, at Keppel Shipyard in Singapore.

The FPSO conversion included upgrade work on the hull and integration of the topsides. VLCC Tina arrived at the shipyard for conversion in November 2017, while the construction of the topsides for the Liza-1 FPSO started in January 2018.

Liza -1 FPSO is anchored in a water depth of 1,525m and it can produce up to 120,000boed.

The FPSO also has associated gas treatment capacity of 170 million cubic feet a day and water injection capacity of roughly 200,000 barrels per day.

The crude oil storage capacity of the Liza-1 FPSO is 1.6 million barrels.

Contractors involved with Liza phase one development

SBM Offshore was awarded the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract for the Liza-1 FPSO in December 2016.

SBM Offshore was also responsible for the construction, installation, lease, and operation of the Liza-1 FPSO.

Keppel Shipyard, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine, was subcontracted by SBM Offshore, for the FPSO conversion work, in October 2017.

TechnipFMC was awarded the contract to engineer, manufacture and install the subsea production system equipment for Liza phase one, in April 2017.

Saipem was awarded the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for the subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines for the Liza phase one development, in May 2017.

The scope of the contract also included the transportation and installation of umbilicals, manifolds and the associated foundations for production, as well as water and gas injection systems for the Liza phase one.

Guyana Shore Base (GYSBI) was contracted for providing shore base services for the Liza Phase one development, in June 2017.

Noble Corporation was awarded a three-year drilling contract to drill Liza development wells using Noble Bob Douglas drillship, in August 2017.

Stena Drilling was awarded the drilling contract for the exploration and evaluation of the Liza field, using the Stena Carron ultra-deepwater drillship.

Spectrum supplied 2D seismic data for evaluating the Liza prospect.