Modec, a Tokyo-based supplier and operator of offshore floating platforms, will proceed with the engineering, construction and installation of a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for ExxonMobil’s Uaru project in Guyana.

The awarding of the contract follows a final investment decision taken in late April on the project by ExxonMobil Guyana and its partners Hess Guyana Exploration (30%) and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana (25%).

Modec will also provide ExxonMobil with operations and maintenance service of the FPSO for 10 years from its first oil production.

Named Errea Wittu, the vessel will be the fifth FPSO in offshore Guyana. It will combine the development of the Snoek, Mako and Uaru resources in the Stabroek block.

The FPSO will be deployed approximately 200 kilometres offshore Guyana, at a water depth of 1,690 metres, and will be able to store around 2 million barrels of crude oil.

Offshore Frontier Solution, a Modec company and joint venture with Toyo Engineering Corporation, which was formed in August 2022, will be responsible for the engineering, procurement, and construction of the FPSO, based on a newbuild hull.

The vessel will have a topside designed to produce approximately 250,000 barrels of oil per day, and will have associated gas treatment capacity of 540 million cubic feet per day, water injection capacity of 350,000 barrels per day, and produced water capacity of 300,000 barrels per day.

“We are extremely honoured to be chosen to provide an FPSO for the Uaru project,” says Modec president and chief executive officer Takeshi Kanamori. “This is our first project with ExxonMobil since we delivered FSO Kome Kribi 1 in Cameroon for Esso Chad in 2003.”

The FPSO will be Modec’s first for use in Guyana and its 18th for use in South America.