Dutch floater expert SBM Offshore has been awarded contracts to perform front-end engineering and design (FEED) for a floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) for ExxonMobil’s Whiptail development project in Guyana.
Whiptail is ExxonMobil’s sixth offshore project in Guyana and SBM Offshore’s fifth FPSO project for the US supermajor in the country.
Subject to certain conditions SBM will, following the FEED, build and install the FPSO. The FEED contract award triggers the initial release of funds by ExxonMobil Guyana to begin FEED activities and commits a Fast4Ward hull for the execution of the Whiptail development.
Under the contracts, the FPSO’s ownership is expected to be transferred to the client at the end of the construction period and before the start of operations in Guyana.
SBM Offshore will design and build the unit using its seventh newbuild, multipurpose floater hull, combined with several standardised topsides modules. The FPSO will be designed to produce 250,000 bopd, will have associated gas treatment capacity of 540 mcfpd and water injection capacity of 300,000 bpd. The vessel will be spread moored in water depth of about 1,630 m and will be able to store around 2m barrels of crude oil.
Whiptail will be located in the eastern portion of the Stabroek Block, some 195 km northeast of Georgetown and amid previous Stabroek projects. The FPSO is expected to start operations in 2027 or early 2028.
