Guyana’s fifth offshore production vessel is now crossing West African waters and could arrive later this month, bringing the country closer to another major increase in oil output.
Vessel-tracking information reviewed Tuesday places the Errea Wittu floating production, storage and offloading vessel en route to the Stabroek Block, having left Singapore in June. Automatic identification system data published by VesselFinder indicated a possible Aug. 20 arrival, although that date could change depending on the vessel’s speed, route and operational requirements.
The vessel will serve ExxonMobil’s US$12.7 billion Uaru development, the fifth oil project approved in the Stabroek Block.
Once installed, commissioned and operating, the Errea Wittu will have the capacity to produce approximately 250,000 barrels of oil per day. Guyana’s existing offshore facilities have a combined production capacity exceeding 900,000 barrels per day, meaning the Uaru project could lift the country’s total capacity beyond 1.1 million barrels daily.
Its arrival, however, will not immediately increase production. The vessel must first be positioned approximately 200 kilometres offshore, connected to subsea infrastructure, and undergo testing and commissioning before commercial operations begin.
ExxonMobil has targeted a 2026 startup for Uaru. Japanese offshore engineering company MODEC constructed the Errea Wittu, whose name means “abundance.” The vessel will develop resources from the Uaru, Mako and Snoek fields in water approximately 1,690 metres deep.
MODEC said the facility can store about two million barrels of crude. It is also designed to process 540 million cubic feet of gas per day and inject as much as 350,000 barrels of water daily to support reservoir pressure and oil recovery.
The wider Uaru development is expected to include as many as 10 drilling centres and 44 production and injection wells targeting an estimated resource exceeding 800 million barrels of oil.
ExxonMobil operates the Stabroek Block with a 45 per cent interest. Chevron holds 30 per cent, while China’s CNOOC Petroleum Guyana owns the remaining 25 per cent.
Guyana began producing oil in December 2019 and has since recorded one of the world’s fastest offshore development programmes. Its operating fleet currently includes the Liza Destiny, Liza Unity, Prosperity and One Guyana vessels. The Errea Wittu will expand that fleet to five.
A sixth development, Whiptail, is expected to follow, while additional projects are planned as the ExxonMobil-led consortium works toward production capacity of approximately 1.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030.
