Liza Destiny gas compressor woe repairs could last three months
– Meanwhile, daily production increased by 80,000 barrels
The torch that continues at Liza Destiny’s FPSO.
Kaieteur News – ExxonMobil Guyana revealed yesterday that it has finally removed the release silencer, a component of the gas compressor system for the ship Liza Destiny that malfunctioned last April 13. That aspect of the equipment will be further assessed for damage, after which a decision will be made on the required scope of repairs and / or modifications. ExxonMobil said it estimates repairs or replacement will take about three months.
Meanwhile, an American oil explorer and Stabroek Block operator, said production will be “slowly ramped up” to 100,000 barrels of oil a day (bpd). It can also go as high as 110,000 bpd the company noted. In addition, Kaieteur News and other media entities have been told that torching levels have increased from three to four million cubic feet of gas to 15 million cubic feet of gas. In its statement justifying the increase, ExxonMobil said, “These operating parameters have been defined after careful consideration of safety, environmental, technical and economic factors together with discussions with relevant government agencies on the best way forward while repairs and upgrades . continuously. ”
ExxonMobil Guyana said that while extremely disappointed with its poor performance to date, it is nevertheless “proud of the offshore team that continues to work safely and efficiently manage operations during the COVID pandemic- 19… ”
PREVIOUS TRACK RECORD
Since December 2019, Kaieteur News would have followed and diligently reported on ExxonMobil’s continuously malfunctioning gas compressor system. On December 20, 2020, it had announced that the gas compressor issue was fixed once and for all. But during that one-year period, it had already blazed 12.4 billion cubic feet of gas a day, the equivalent of removing 1.6M acres of forest. Simply put, this means Exxon is flaunting toxic Natural gas that could be offset by a Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) forest. (https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2020/12/22/exxons-flaring-this-year-equivalent-to-the-removal-of-1-6m-acres-of-forest/).
But the issues with its gas compressor would return soon. On January 13, 2021, the gas compressor malfunctioned for the second time. The company did not disclose the case at that time but said it was fixed within a few hours, or so he thought. (https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/03/07/exxonmobil-had-flared-early-january-claims-it-lasted-less-than-hours/).
On January 29, 2021, the gas compressor crashed for the third time, forcing ExxonMobil this time to send the faulty equipment to Germany for repair and upgrade. A detailed assessment of the compressor subsequently revealed that the axial vibration of the compressor rotor is what led to mechanical disturbance.
The equipment was back in Guyana by the second week of March where it was installed on Liza Destiny’s ship. Subsequently, testing was conducted in early April. (https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/03/14/exxons-repaired-compressor-back-in-guyana/). But before that could be completed, the repaired and upgraded gas compressor malfunctioned, for the fourth time.