As Guyana now turns its attention towards capitalising on every aspect of the imminently booming oil and gas industry, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson on Thursday revealed that studies have commenced towards the implementation of its proposed natural gas project.
The Government is currently working at determining locations for the laying of
Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson
pipelines to transfer this by-product from the offshore oil reservoirs to strategic locations across the country, to be utilised as an alternative source of energy.
Speaking at the Public Infrastructure Ministry’s year-end press conference, Patterson outlined plans for this initiative. He pointed out the regions in which the possibility of laying natural gas pipelines is currently being explored.
“Right now, I think we are between Regions 3 and 4. At the moment, Region 6 still has not been eliminated,” Paterson relayed.
The minister said, “The actual construction of the pipeline and procurement and those things like that have not been decided, and that’s why a location (must first be identified).”
He explained, “If you decide to go in one position, the technical challenges are different from others. So we need to have a preferred location, so that we can do the studies.”
At the moment, discussions are ongoing with ExxonMobil, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) and the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC), among other agencies, to ensure that the most feasible location is selected.
Patterson highlighted the factors which would be taken into consideration during this process. He indicated, “The determination of where we’re going to go has several aspects, not only land availability, (but also include) the distance away from residence, environmental challenges….”
Though the Guyana Government has reached out to the Inter-American Development Bank to further assess the project, the initial studies are currently being conducted by the Government of Japan. The findings are expected to be made public early next year.
The minister has stressed that this undertaking goes beyond just providing a cheaper alternative energy source to Guyanese.
Patterson added that Government is also looking to set up a Liquified Petroleum Gas Plant at the selected location as well.
This is to be used as a source of fuel for many residential, commercial and agricultural operations, including cooking, hot water systems, and heating.
