– first-time operation in South America
Dutch marine services and towage company KOTUG has been awarded a long-term contract by Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, to provide offshore terminal towage support for operations in Guyana.
The contract marks KOTUG’s first operation in the South American subcontinent and the vessel will provide support to the existing and upcoming Floating Production Storage and Offloading units (FPSO’s) at the Liza field. The Company will provide towage assistance to export tankers, infield support duties, and cargo duties.
To support the operations in Guyana, Kotug will employ its newly acquired vessel SD Power, a 130-tonne bollard pull, DP-2 azimuth anchor-handling tug.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KOTUG International, Ard-Jan Kooren said in a release on Wednesday: “Being part of the growing offshore oil and gas activities in the cooperative republic of Guyana and working together with one of world’s largest oil majors ExxonMobil for us is an important milestone and in line with our long-term strategy to grow our business in the FPSO support market.”
Soon, there will be two FPSOs producing oil from the Liza field — the Liza Destiny, which commenced production in December 2019, and the Liza Unity, still under construction.
ExxonMobil targets Liza Phase 2 start-up in early 2022 with the Liza Unity being designed to produce 220,000 barrels of oil per day, to have associated gas treatment capacity of 400 million cubic feet per day and water injection capacity of 250,000 barrels per day.
Meanwhile, there have been 18 discoveries on the 26,800-square-kilometer Stabroek Block which has recoverable resources estimated at more than 8 billion oil-equivalent barrels. This has given the Block potential for at least five FPSOs producing more than 750,000 barrels of oil per day by 2026, according to ExxonMobil.
