ExxonMobil to submit field development plan for Longtail Project soon – Routledge

In the coming weeks, ExxonMobil Guyana is slated to submit the Field Development Plans (FDP) to the Guyana Government for its eighth development project offshore Guyana, Longtail, which is the country’s first major non-associated gas and condensate production.

“We’re due to submit a Field Development Plan to the Ministry of Natural Resources in the coming weeks,” President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge, said during a presentation on Wednesday at the Guyana Energy Conference being held at the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown.

According to Routledge, the project is targeting a Final Investment Decision (FID) later this year.

“We are reaching the conclusion of all the environmental and all the socio-economic studies that underpin the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) and, ultimately, the environment permitting process. And our aspiration is, working with the Government and the different agencies, that by the end of this year we should be able to sanction the Longtail Project,” he stated.

Targeting start-up in 2030, the proposed Longtail will be the first project to produce non-associated gas in the prolific Stabroek Block, offshore Guyana. Exxon anticipates approximately 1 to 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day and up to 290,000 barrels per day of condensate from the project.

Currently, ExxonMobil is operating four developments offshore Guyana – Liza Phase One, Liza Phase Two, Payara, and Yellowtail – with approval already obtained for its fifth project, Uaru, to come onstream this year; its sixth, Whiptail, in 2027; and its seventh, Hammerhead, in 2029. All of these projects produce what has been described as “black crude”.

However, the eighth development, Longtail, is expected to produce condensate, a lighter grade of petroleum oil that is higher in value.

The development cost of the Longtail Project pegged at around US$12.5 billion and has a lifespan of 30 years – 10 years more than the other black crude-producing projects.

Previously, Routledge had noted that once approved and operations start, Longtail will produce the country’s most premium oil to date. “Longtail will be a premium,” he had stated during the Starting Point Podcast back in October 2025.

Based on reports, the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel for this project will rely entirely on gas recycling instead of water injection, with twice the gas compression capacity of previous FPSO units.

Aggressive energy agenda

“In the initial phase, while we believe this is truly a gas project, it will produce a lot of liquids… It will be gas export ready from day one. We will have a gas export riser and the equipment on the FPSO in order to be able to deliver gas,” Routledge noted during Wednesday’s presentation.

He said ExxonMobil is currently working with the Guyana Government on the timeline to deliver and other details to deliver the gas, including whether it would go to the other oil projects in the Stabroek Block to maximise recovery, or to the Wales Gas-to-Energy pipeline to ensure security of supply there, or to Berbice to support the future gas development there.

As part of its aggressive energy agenda and efforts to monetise the country’s natural gas resources, the Guyana Government is looking to establish a second gas project in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

This Berbice gas project will support large-scale industrial growth with power plants, data centres, fertiliser plants, and alumina plants, among other heavy industries – an initiative that will be separate from the highly anticipated GtE project at Wales in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara).

Already, the Guyana Government has selected United States energy firm Fulcrum LNG Inc to work in a tripartite arrangement with ExxonMobil to develop the Berbice gas project.
Routledge said that over the past year, Exxon has been working on progressing development concepts for that second gas development that will utilise resources from the south-east section of the prolific Stabroek Block. He said they are looking at the design-build model.

“We’re testing the market for surf and for the FPSO currently as we look towards the possibility of bringing a second gas development forward to the Government next year. So, for those that are out there and have received our request for a tender, I ask you to sharpen your pencils. This project will require the very best and most efficient bids that you can make…”

“As a signal that we are growing in confidence over that project, we anticipate that in the coming weeks, the next couple of months, we will likely submit a request for an environmental authorisation for the second gas project in the southeast part of the Stabroek Block,” the Exxon President stated.

With Guyana keen on pushing gas development, President Dr Irfaan Ali, only on Tuesday, urged neighbouring Suriname to combine its gas resources in the proposed Berbice Gas Project.

“Like-minded partners”

During his address at the opening of the Energy Conference, the Guyanese Head of State emphasised that Guyana is looking for “like-minded partners” to scale up the second gas project.

“For the Berbice gas project, we want to do this with our friends in Suriname, and we are hoping that our friends in Suriname can take the decision to join us by bringing their gas with our gas so we can move from a medium-sized project to a larger-scale project for both of our countries and for the region,” the President noted.

While he noted that the discussions with Suriname are already underway, Dr Ali stated that “We are hoping that very quickly we can have some decisions because our investors are waiting for those decisions, and those decisions are critical for your future and our future. We want this partnership. We want that, just like we are partnering with our friends in Roraima and Brazil on transport and logistics and the food partnership, we want that partnership.”