Commissioned ‘Liza Destiny’ to set sail for Guyana next month

The Liza Destiny, the first oil production vessel to be placed in Guyana has been officially dedicated by First Lady, Sandra Granger.

In keeping with tradition and naming protocols, the dedication is performed by a female who is called the ‘godmother of the vessel’ to bestow good luck and divine protection over the vessel and all who sail aboard.

While delivering remarks in Singapore, Mrs. Granger recognised the importance of this project and industry to Guyana.

“I hope this ship will bring to us, the people of Guyana, not only prosperity in a physical sense but greater cohesion, greater development and of course the sustainability of our country.”

ExxonMobil’s Upstream President, Liam Mallon, recognised the correlation between the name of the floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, the “Liza Destiny”, and ExxonMobil’s intent to partner with the country over the long term.

“We are committed for a long voyage. We first signed an agreement to explore for hydrocarbons in the Stabroek Block in 1999; we drilled the Liza well in May 2015, and this FPSO has been designed to produce oil for decades. It will provide value to Guyana and ExxonMobil for the long term.

“Our destinies, therefore, have been and will continue to be linked to Guyana in the future,” he expressed.

Mallon indicated that Liza Phase 1 is a global project with significant local participation as more than 1000 Guyanese are involved. This project involves completion of the FPSO and four subsea drill centres with 17 wells.

The ‘Liza Destiny’ was converted from the oil tanker, “Tina”, a VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea. The contract for its conversion was awarded to SBM in July 2017.

For the company, the completion is a moment of pride and honour as indicated by Chief Executive Officer, Bruno Chabas.

“Our objective was to safely deliver the Liza Destiny FPSO on schedule in partnership with our client and safety always remained our number one priority on the project”, he indicated.

The naming ceremony marks the final stage for the Liza Destiny as it readies to set sail for Guyana next month. Final work items are being completed and a series of checks will be performed over the next few weeks.

The Liza Destiny has a production capacity up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day and an overall storage volume of 1.6 million barrels.

During normal operations, there will be at least 80 persons living and working onboard the vessel. Twentyfour operations and maintenance technicians, who are currently being trained in Canada, will return in 2020 to support work on the Liza Destiny. (Kaieteur News)