American-based multinational oil and gas corporation, Exxon Mobil Corp has reduced crude output levels at the Liza Destiny floating platform off Guyana’s coast.

The pre-emptive action was taken yesterday (February 6) after a gas compressor at the plant failed. The faulty compressor is being sent back to its German manufacturer for repairs.

Exxon Mobil reports that the compressor should arrive in Germany on Tuesday, February 9. In a statement released yesterday, the Texas headquartered oil company said, “the full extent of the damage will not be known until a detailed inspection of the compressor can take place at the workshop of the manufacturer, MAN Turbo in Germany.”

The company did not specify the current production levels. Exxon Mobil owns a 45% stake in the Stabroek block, where Liza is located. The multinational oil and gas corporation, which is part of a consortium operating the Stabroek block, last year limited output due to problems with the reinjection of natural gas.

At the time, Guyanese authorities declared their expectation that the consortium operating the Stabroek block would not to routinely flare natural gas extracted alongside crude oil, thus heightening the importance of gas reinjection.

Hess Corp, one of Exxon’s partners in the block with a 30% stake, said in an earnings call last week that production had reached full capacity of 120,000 barrels per day (bpd).

The consortium led by Exxon, in which China’s CNOOC Ltd also has a 25% stake has made 18 discoveries in the Stabroek block totaling more than eight billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas. This find has made Guyana the world’s newest energy hotspot.

Production of oil in the South American/Caribbean country began in December 2019.