A Dutch manufacturer expects a potential increase in lease length for FPSOs in Guyana
The Liza Destiny manufactured by SBM Offshore
Kaieteur News – SBM Offshore, the Dutch manufacturer that built Guyana’s first Floating Production Storage and Unloading (FPSO) ship, announced that it expects a potential increase in lease length for FPSOs in Guyana. He did not disclose further details in this regard.
Be that as it may, Kaieteur News would have reported during this year that the company planned to recover the full cost of its investments in these vessels by selling the same to ExxonMobil after two years of leading operations for each unit.
Although the sale price remains unknown, public financial statements from SBM reveal that the Liza Destiny, Guyana’s first floating Production Storage and Unloading ship, is being leased for about US $ 1.2B while the second FPSO , the Liza Unity, is leased for it at about US $ 1.6B.
FPSO Liza Destiny had arrived in Guyanese waters in August 2019 and, upon receiving her certificate from the client, joined the SBM Offshore fleet on November 1, 2019. The first oil was delivered on December 20, 2019.
With respect to Liza Unity, ExxonMobil had awarded Liza Unity contracts to SBM Offshore on May 10, 2019. Under these contracts, the company will build, let and subsequently lease and operate Liza Unity’s FPSO for a period of up to two years after the ownership and operations will transfer to ExxonMobil. Liza Unity’s FPSO design is based on the Fast4Ward® program as it incorporates the Company’s new versatile shell combined with several standardized tops modules. On October 16, 2019, the Company had announced that it had completed Liza Unity’s FPSO project funding for a total of US $ 1.14 billion.
In November last year, the company was awarded contracts to perform front-end engineering and design for a third FPSO called Prosperity that would be used for Payana ExxonMobil offshore Guyana development project. The award was the first under the long-term FPSO supply agreement with ExxonMobil that secured SBM Offshore’s third Fast4Ward shell under construction. The next phase of the FPSO Prosperity project has received government blessings, as such, SBM has moved on to its construction and installations and subsequently leased and operated FPSO Prosperity for a period of up to two years.
FPSO Prosperity will use a design that largely emulates Liza Unity’s FPSO design. As such, FPSO Prosperity will be the second ship built under the Company’s Fast4Ward® program.