GYSBI, T&T Merchant Bank ink deal to fund shore base expansion

…additional deal between GYSBI, local banks expected to be signed

Guyana Shore Base Incorporated (GYSBI) and NCB Merchant bank of Trinidad and Tobago, have signed a US$10 million syndicated loan for GYSBI to expand its shore base operations and ability to service oil companies offshore Guyana.

Signing the deal was GYSBI General Manager Robert Albiez and Marli Creese, the head of corporate and investment banking at NCB Merchant Bank. Albiez described the deal as a bridge facility that will lead to an even bigger deal between GYSBI, NCB and three local banks.
“This bridging loan agreement is a precursor to a more significant multimillion-dollar deal involving NCBMBTTL and three other Guyana banks to provide capital for projects that will further build and enhance GYSBI’s capacity to support Exxon Mobil’s offshore drilling campaign.”
Meanwhile, Creese noted that the NCB Merchant bank backs GYSBI and their vision for how they want to develop. He also reminded that his bank is no stranger to Guyana, having played a role in arranging the US$20 million syndicated loan for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) back in 2018.
“We were able to provide financing that is flexible, forward thinking, and facilitative of GYSBI’s business model. By taking the time to understand Guyana Shore Base, we were able to create a custom-tailored financial solution,” the Bank official said.
It is expected that the loan will allow GYSBI to expand their capacity for berthing supply vessels and other forms of logistical support. GYSBI has been around since 2015 and has its operations at Houston on the East Bank of Demerara.
In 2015 Muneshwers Limited, Pacific Rim Constructors, LED Offshore, and Total Tec Oilfield Services – all companies with relevant experience and expertise, combined interests to establish GYSBI. The company was later awarded a 5-year mandate to provide ExxonMobil with shore base services which has been subsequently extended to 2032.
In the past five years, GYSBI has directly invested over US$300 million in enabling port infrastructure, real estate development, warehousing, and support services; has recruited, trained, and certified more than 1000 Guyanese for key operational positions within the industry and beyond through its affiliates.
This has catalysed more than US$500 million in investment in the Houston/McDoom, East Bank Demerara corridor by providing the enabling infrastructure and establishing the first oil and gas activity hub in Guyana and creating direct and indirect employment for more than 2000 persons.
The oil rich Stabroek Block that GYSBI provides logistical support to, is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres). Exxon, through subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), is the operator and holds 45 per cent interest in the Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd holds 30 per cent interest, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds the remaining 25 per cent interest.
So far, Exxon’s total investments in Guyana total GY$1.3 trillion on its own and over GY$3 Trillion with its partners. Additionally, the joint venture’s exploration and production plans up to 2025 will likely increase their investments to more than GY$6 trillion.
ExxonMobil has said it anticipates at least six projects offshore Guyana will be online by 2027, with production having already started in the second phase, with the Liza Unity FPSO vessel in operation.
The third project – the Payara Development – will meanwhile target an estimated resource base of about 600 million oil-equivalent barrels, and was at one point considered to be the largest single planned investment in the history of Guyana.
Meanwhile, the Yellowtail Development, which will be oil giant ExxonMobil’s fourth development in Guyana’s waters, will turn out to be the single largest development so far in terms of barrels per day of oil, with a mammoth 250,000 bpd targeted. (G3)