While ExxonMobil’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Darren Woods would have told the market just days ago that the political uncertainty is what seems to be holding up approval for the Payara Field Development Plan (FDP), Head of the Energy Department, Dr. Mark Bynoe, has revealed that there is more to the story.
During a virtual press conference with members of the media, Dr. Bynoe shared that there are a number of issues that have to be addressed before approval can be considered.
Expounding further, he said, “…It is well known that approving FDPs requires the signature of the Minister (the President) and I could not expose my Minister at this point in time to a process that is incomplete. However, what I have said and what I am doing is that we are providing Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) with line of sight in terms of what are some of the issues emerging because those issues will need to be addressed before one can discuss an approval.”
Dr. Bynoe said that so far, EEPGL has been provided with a list of matters but declined to divulge further information. He said it is therefore not just a matter of the political environment but also improvements that have to be made to the FDP report.
The Energy Department Director said, “We are aligning what needs to be aligned so that when the political furor is over, we can take it forward to say one way or the other, what the course of action needs to be…”
The Payara development plan includes a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, named Prosperity; it is expected to produce 220,000 barrels per day. The development is similar to that of Liza phase 1 and 2. Payara will have up to 45 wells, including production wells, water injection wells and gas injection wells. The Payara development startup is expected as early as 2023.
This development is ExxonMobil’s third project.
