Exxon is pushing ahead with fiber cable at Stabroek Block
Kaieteur News – ExxonMobil Guyana, the operator with the largest stake in the Stabroek Block, is pushing forward with its effort to install its own fiber optic cable to support its offshore and onshore operations in Guyana.
The FPSO Destiny Liza where the cable will be connected.
As such, the company is currently seeking to identify companies that can provide small boat and fishing link services locally, to complement its offshore installation of submarine fiber cable in the inshore waterfront environment.
The company announced the initiative some years ago, with local operating company ExxonMobil, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), in 2019, initiating activities for support services that will help procure a license for the network .
Called the ‘Fiber Optic Enabler Project,’ at the time EEPGL said it was “trying to identify suppliers who can provide environmental and regulatory support services, for allowing a submarine fiber optic network connecting offshore facilities in the Stabroek block with onshore cable stations at Georgetown. ”
The proposed fiber cable is being networked to the nerve of ExxonMobil’s offshore oil production platform in the Stabroek Block – the Liza Destiny.
It will allow real-time flow of information between ExxonMobil and other stakeholders, in terms of the operations onboard the production platform.
A project summary published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes that installation activities should be completed in the third quarter of this year.
According to the summary available, the fiber optic cable will establish a foundation for “fast, low latency connectivity of onshore and offshore facilities to Guyana’s base infrastructure, allowing the implementation of digital technology to improve productivity, support operations from remote, and support reliability ”through process monitoring and inspection.
This publication understands that the Guyana Finance Authority (GRA) is expected to benefit from the landed cable, to aid its monitoring of ExxonMobil’s offshore operations.
The tax agency had said it would have a CCTV system in place – following the installation of a fiber optic cable – to give the authority 24/7 capability in its monitoring activities aboard the Liza Destiny.
The agency has had to rely heavily on boats coming ashore for whatever reason, to report what is happening offshore in various forms, using regulations in the Customs Act .
Liza Destiny’s ship, Floating Production, Storage and Unloading (FPSO), has been designated a wharf and private warehouse, in accordance with the Customs Act promulgated under Section 2 and Part 4 of the Act.
A suffering wharf is in place, except for a place of approval of loading and unloading by the Revenue Authority, where a senior customs officer may, at discretion and under certain conditions, permit the loading and unloading of goods.
As such, Liza Destiny’s ship is subject to all customs regulations, relating to the wharves of suffering.
That classification gives GRA the authority to conduct its surveillance.
Following the installation of the connection to Liza’s Phase One operation, Exxon plans to connect to Liza’s Phase Two operation in 2022, when the project is slated to come on stream.