Uaru development, offshore Guyana

In April 2023, ExxonMobil made a final investment decision (FID) for the Uaru development, representing the company’s fifth project on Guyana’s Stabroek block. The other projects in the block include the Liza I, Liza II, Payara, and Yellowtail developments.

Uaru is expected to produce approximately 250,000 barrels of oil per day, with first oil expected in 2026.

The project will entail an investment of around $12.7bn.

Uaru Discovery Details

ExxonMobil began oil and gas exploration activities in Guyana in 2008. A total of 25 significant discoveries have been made since May 2015.

Within the Stabroek licence, key discoveries include Liza, Payara, Snoek, Liza Deep, Turbot, Ranger, Pacora, Longtail, Hammerhead, Pluma, Tilapia, Haimara, Yellowtail, Tripletail, Mako, Uaru, Yellowtail-2, and Redtail.

ExxonMobil made the find at Uaru in January 2020, the 16th discovery on the Stabroek Block.

The Uaru-1 exploration well, drilled in 6,342ft (1,933m) of water, is located approximately 10miles (16km) northeast of the Liza field, which began producing oil in December 2019.

It encountered approximately 94ft (29m) of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir.

In April 2021, ExxonMobil announced that Uaru-2 well encountered 120ft of high quality oil bearing reservoirs below the Uaru-1 discovery.

The well was located approximately 6.8miles (11km) south of the Uaru-1 well in 5,659ft of water.

In February 2022, the Government of Guyana approved $88m for a consultancy firm to review the Uaru field development plan.

ExxonMobil made the FID on the Uaru project in April 2023 after securing the required government and regulatory approvals including the Uaru Petroleum Production Licence.

Reserves

The Uaru project is expected to contain more than 800 million barrels of oil.

Following the drilling of Uaru-2 well, the gross discovered recoverable resource estimate at Stabroek block stood at approximately 9 billion oil-equivalent barrels.

Uaru project development

The Uaru project development plan includes ten drill centres, and 21 production wells and 23 water and gas injection wells.

The wells will be tied back to the new Errea Wittu Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel.

The vessel will be deployed at a water depth of 1,690m. It will be capable of storing around 2 million barrels of crude oil.

Errea Wittu will produce 250,000 barrels of oil per day at peak. It will have associated gas treatment capacity and water injection capacity of 540 million cubic feet per day and 350,000 barrels per day, respectively.

The project is expected to produce 812 million barrels of oil over the initial 20-year licence period.

Contractors Involved

Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Company (MODEC) signed a contract with ExxonMobil in November 2022 to perform Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) for the Errea Wittu FPSO vessel.

In May 2023, MODEC announced that it will proceed with engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) on the vessel following the FID on the Uaru project.

Offshore Frontier Solution, a MODEC Group Company and a joint venture with Toyo Engineering Corporation, will conduct EPC of the Errea Wittu vessel based on MODEC’s M350TM new-build hull.

In December 2022, Italian multinational oilfield services company Saipem secured a contract from ExxonMobil for the design, fabrication, and installation of subsea structures, risers, flowlines, and umbilicals for the subsea production facility.

Fully bonded thermoplastic composite pipe manufacturer Strohm won a contract in January 2023 to supply more than 24 of its jumpers for the Uaru field development.

In May 2023, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana awarded TechnipFMC a contract, worth between $500m and $1bn, to supply the subsea production system for the Uaru project.

Under the contract, TechnipFMC will deliver 44 subsea trees and associated tooling, 12 manifolds, and associated controls and tie-in equipment.

Aker Solutions was hired for dynamic and static subsea umbilical for the Uaru offshore oil development, while French manufacturing company Vallourec will deliver 35,000 metric tonnes of line-pipe for the deep-water project.