(Kaieteur News) – Oil production in August dropped to its lowest levels this year, following a fire aboard the Liza Unity Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) and an unexplained drop in production at the Payara project, earlier in the month.
Production figures published by the Ministry of Natural Resources on its website indicate that just 697,000 barrels were produced on 1st August, 2026. This was as a result of decreased production at the Unity and Prosperity FPSOs which produced 179,000 barrels and 134,000 respectively. The Unity FPSO usually produces about 250,000 barrels while the Prosperity produces about 260,000 barrels daily.
Chart showing the lowest production level recorded for the year in August, 2026.
Production slowly jumped but again slid to 701,000 barrels on 9th August 9 due to fallen output at the Payara project which only pumped 58 barrels.
On 23rd August, production fell to 760,000 barrels following a fire in the laundry room of the Liza Unity FPSO. Exxon said it still produced 107,000 barrels on 23rd August and 87 barrels on the 24th. The company slowly resumed normal operations at the project, producing 189,000 barrels on the 25th and 257,000 barrels on the 26th.
In a statement, Exxon said it suspended operations at the facility which include the offloading of crude. It explained, “heat detectors aboard the Liza Unity FPSO were activated in the laundry room of the living quarters, indicating a small fire, which was quickly extinguished.”
The company said the appropriate response procedures were initiated. “All personnel aboard the vessel are safe and accounted for,” the company stated, adding: “operations were suspended as part of our established safety response and will resume following completion of the necessary checks,” the oil giant said.
Following the incident, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) said it will investigate the circumstances that led to the fire.
The ministry said, “…that the relevant regulatory authorities will conduct the necessary follow-up to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
It added that it will continue to closely engage ExxonMobil Guyana Limited and the relevant regulatory agencies on this incident.
The Liza Unity is Guyana’s second FPSO and produces hydrocarbons from the Liza Two project. The vessel commenced production activities in February 2022.
The vessel was designed to produce 220,000 bpd but was optimised by Exxon which pushed production to about 250,000 bpd. It is moored in water depth of about 1,650 m and is able to store approximately 2 million barrels of crude oil.
Unity is one of the four FPSOs in Guyana’s fleet. ExxonMobil also produces oil at Liza One, Payara- its third project- and Yellowtail, the fourth project. A fifth FPSO, the Errea Wittu recently arrived in Guyana and is slated to come online during the fourth quarter of this year, increasing the country’s daily production beyond a million barrels per day.
Source: Kaieteur News
