ExxonMobil is already tendering for the Yellowtail development
– Months before seeking Govt approval
Kaieteur News – ExxonMobil’s local subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) is progressing plans for its fourth development at the Stabroek block, Yellowtail. Although it did not intend to submit the field development plan (FDP) to government for review until the end of the year, the company has already begun to submit tenders.
One oil service company, Subsea 7 SA (SUBCY), recently discussed an Exxon project it is bidding on for Yellowtail, during its 2020 Full Year earnings call. Subsea 7 SA is a submarine engineering company that hailing from Luxembourg.
Map showing location of Yellowtail well in Stabroek Block.
During his company’s latest earnings call on February 25, 2021, the CEO (CEO) of Subsea 7 SA, John Evans, responded to a question about Guyana saying “Yellowtail is a project, the next project for ExxonMobil in Guyana , and that’s out for a bid, and we’re proposing that right now. ”
Hess, a partner in the Stabroek block, announced in January that it had set aside US $ 70M of its 2021 exploration and production capital and its US $ 1.9 billion exploratory budget to fund unannounced future development periods. This means that the money is expected to be spent in 2021. Hess said the money was ring-fenced “primarily for front-end engineering and design work for future phases of development on the Stabroek Block.”
This is not the first time that ExxonMobil has put out tenders ahead of even submitting the FDP for a project. This is how ExxonMobil operates. Back in 2019, the company did the same with Payara.
Months before it introduced the FDP for Payara, which was approved nearly a year later, ExxonMobil had already awarded contracts for End-End Engineering and Design (FEED) and subsea systems.
In November 2019, the company had awarded the Italian-based Saipem a multi-million dollar US contract for the subsea systems, for Prosperity Liza. He had also already awarded SBM Offshore a contract for the FEED.
What is the problem with premature distribution of projects?
When the former Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Vincent Adams, having encountered issues at Payara’s FDP, which was causing concern under his agency’s mandate, began demanding that changes be made to the design of the project to facilitate the environment. necessary protection.
But ExxonMobil insisted that the Prosperity redesign would be the way Dr. Adams asking for it too expensive and inconvenient, especially given that some contracts have already been issued. Exxon was already well into its preparations for Payara. This had held Payara project approval for some time.