WHEN ExxonMobil announced that it had taken a final investment decision on the Hammerhead project, its seventh offshore development in Guyana, the headlines looked familiar. Another multibillion-dollar project sanctioned, another Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel to be added to the fleet, another building block in Exxon’s march towards 1.7 million barrels a day (bpd) by the end of the decade. But look closer, and you will see that Hammerhead is not more of the same.

Every project after Liza 1 has followed the mega-project formula: A new-build hull, near or equal to a quarter-of-a-million bpd in oil production, and a price tag equal to or more than US$10 billion (except for Liza 2). Hammerhead is smaller by design. At US$6.8 billion, it will produce 150,000 barrels a day, far less than Yellowtail, Uaru, or Whiptail. The reason is simple: The Hammerhead discovery and how it is situated do not justify another 250,000-bpd development. Exxon is tailoring the project to the field.

The FPSO design makes the point. Instead of commissioning another costly new-build, Exxon is reverting to a converted very large crude carrier (VLCC), a design choice used only once before, with Liza 1. It is a reminder that not every discovery needs to be paired with the industry’s largest and most expensive production units.

Another consequential difference lies in the plans to transport gas. Hammerhead is the first project offshore Guyana to incorporate, from the outset, a plan to send its bountiful natural gas to shore via pipeline, compared with the Liza field, where plans to transport its gas came after. According to the environmental impact assessment, Hammerhead can produce up to 95 million cubic feet a day of gas. About 10 million will fuel the FPSO, and the rest can either be piped to shore through the Gas-to-Energy project or transferred to the Liza Unity FPSO for reinjection to support oil recovery.

That makes Hammerhead a potential bridge to Phase 2 of the Gas-to-Energy project, which the Guyana Government envisions. The first phase will lean on gas from the Liza field, but Hammerhead creates a clear opening for expansion, one that ties offshore production more directly to Guyana’s domestic energy framework than any previous initial development plan has.

It is tempting to see Hammerhead as a modest addition next to the larger producing projects of the Stabroek Block, given that it will not rival Yellowtail or Uaru in sheer oil output, but that misses the point. The project’s significance lies in its differences: A cheaper FPSO, and a direct gas link built into its blueprint. Together, these choices suggest that Exxon’s Guyana strategy is maturing. The company is no longer rolling out carbon copies of its biggest projects; it is adapting, diversifying, and showing that Guyana’s offshore basin can be developed with more than one template. It also signals another key early point in Exxon’s pivoting focus from oil to natural gas, and what that resource can achieve.

Come 2029, all will become clear.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.