— Largest Guyana development to date as startup achieved four months ahead of schedule
GUYANA has reached another major milestone in its oil-and-gas journey with the start of production at Yellowtail, the fourth offshore development within the prolific Stabroek Block.
This announcement was made on Friday morning by the Government of Guyana and ExxonMobil.
The project is being produced through the ONE GUYANA Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, the largest of its kind to operate offshore the country to date.
With an initial annual average production of 250,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and a storage capacity of two million barrels, ONE GUYANA’s startup pushes the nation’s total daily output to over 900,000 bpd up from the previous combined 677,000 bpd from the Liza Destiny, Liza Unity, and Payara Prosperity FPSOs.
The vessel will develop the Yellowtail and Redtail fields, discovered in 2019 and 2020 respectively, and is equipped with state-of-the-art Subsea, Umbilicals, Risers and Flowlines (SURF) infrastructure, enabling production from 26 production wells and 25 water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection wells.
President of ExxonMobil Upstream Company, Dan Ammann, hailed the development as “a significant milestone for ExxonMobil and the people of Guyana,” noting that the project reflects “our deepening roots in the country and our shared commitment to long-term, inclusive growth.”
He highlighted that “Guyanese [now make] up more than 67% of the country’s oil-and-gas workforce and over 2,000 local businesses [are] engaged.”
Built by SBM Offshore, the ONE GUYANA FPSO is also the first offshore Guyana to feature installed sparing on all gas processing compressors, ensuring uninterrupted gas handling even during planned or unplanned maintenance.
The Ministry of Natural Resources emphasised that the Yellowtail Petroleum Production Licence, approved in 2022, has been a benchmark for future projects.
The licence “embedded stronger environmental and safety requirements, improved decommissioning safeguards and alignment with Guyana’s broader climate commitments.”
By 2030, ExxonMobil Guyana projects total production capacity of 1.7 million oil equivalent barrels per day from eight developments.
The company noted that its deepwater projects here are “the most successful in the world,” having brought four complex offshore mega-projects online in just five years all ahead of schedule and under budget.
ExxonMobil Guyana Limited operates the Stabroek Block with a 45% stake, alongside Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. (30%) and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited (25%).
The Ministry reaffirmed that it will “continue to work to ensure the prudent management of the petroleum sector to support long-term national benefit and sustainable development.”