Veolia Water Technologies said its VWS Westgarth subsidiary has been awarded a multimillion dollar contract by SBM Offshore for the supply of a seawater treatment package for the Liza Unity floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO), to be deployed in the Stabroek block offshore Guyana.

The award is for the design and procurement of equipment with construction technical assistance for a seawater treatment plant sized for 263,244 BPD (41,856 m 3 /day) of low sulphate water and 31,700 BPD (5,040 m 3 /day) of reverse osmosis process water for the largest capacity FPSO that SBM Offshore has designed.

The Liza Unity FPSO will be spread moored in the Liza Field, in a water depth of 1,633 meters, and will be able to store around 2 million barrels of crude oil as part of the ExxonMobil-operated Liza Phase 2 development.

The seawater system, provided as two fully-integrated process modules, incorporates the sulphate reduction (SR) nano-filtration membrane process to selectively remove barium and strontium from the injected seawater, preventing the formation of barium or strontium scale in the reservoir or production pipe internals. The SR process leaves the other salts (sodium, chloride, etc.) substantially unaffected, maintaining the stability and permeability of the oil reservoir formation clays.

This is the 12th contract awarded from SBM Offshore to Veolia.

“Liza Unity is a strategic project for SBM Offshore, and VWS Westgarth’s knowledge and experience on water treatment systems will be of key importance for the success of the development. The exceptional collaboration and teamwork already put in place by both companies have formed a solid base for a safe and quality-driven delivery of the project scope,” said Luis Ferreira, Package Manager, SBM Offshore

(Images: Veolia)

In May 2019, ExxonMobil announced it has funded the Liza Phase 2 development after it received government and regulatory approvals. The project is on track for mid-2022 start-up, producing up to 220,000 barrels of oil per day.

The Liza field is located in the Stabroek block circa 200 kilometers offshore Guyana. ExxonMobil is the operator and holds a 45% interest in the Stabroek block. Hess holds a 30% interest, and CNOOC holds a 25% interest.