Work on gas-to-shore project already underway – Natural Resources Minister

…contract will be awarded by year end

Work on the Gas-to-Shore project, which will see pipelines being built from offshore to Wales, West Bank Demerara (WBD), is already underway, and according to Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat, physical manifestations of that work will be apparent by next year.
During the sod-turning ceremony for the Vreed-en-Hoop shore base facility on Wednesday, Bharrat explained that work on the project, inclusive of mapping the pipeline route, has already started. He assured that the contract to construct the power plant would be awarded by year-end.
“I want to say to you that that project has already started. You might not see physical work as yet, but there’s a lot of work happening behind the scenes. We’ve already mapped out the pipeline route, coming in from Crane all the way down to Wales area. Alastair and team are working from offshore coming in. And next year, I believe, we’ll start seeing some physical work,” he explained.

“Before the ending of the year, we will award a contract to a company to start construction of the power plant. So, it’s not something we’re just speaking of all the time, or a pipe dream we’re trying to sell people; it is something that will happen before the election. By 2024, we will have power from that power plant in Region Three,” he disclosed.
Minister Bharrat explained that once the project is finished, it would ensure that blackouts are a thing of the past. The benefits of the project would include slashing by half the electricity bill that Guyanese are currently paying.
The Minister acknowledged that a lot of times when the Government speaks of upcoming projects, there are those who doubt whether the project would come to fruition in the near future. Bharrat has assured that not only would thus project be completed by 2024, but work has already started.
Bharrat also responded to persons who have been critical of the Government’s decision to land the gas-to-shore pipeline in Wales. According to him, the people of Wales deserve to benefit from the economic offshoots of the oil and gas sector just as much as persons in any other corner of Guyana.
“Wales was decided as the best area because you also have access to the Demerara River. And it’s not only about the power plant or the NGL plant, it is about the Industrial Manufacturing Park that will be built around the powerplant in the Wales area. Because we want to move our country forward, and the only way we will move forward is if we venture into value-added,” he explained.

With a timetable to deliver rich gas by the end of 2024 and the NGL plant to be online by 2025, works are progressing on getting the project off the ground. As such, during the first half of this year, Exxon was expected to source the materials and pipelines, so that they are available for when construction starts later this year.
The scope of the US$900 million gas-to-shore project consists of the construction of 225 kilometres of pipeline from the Liza field in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana, where Exxon and its partners are currently producing oil. It features approximately 220 kilometres of a subsea pipeline offshore that will run from the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels in the Stabroek Block to the shore. Upon landing on the West Coast Demerara shore, the pipeline would continue for approximately 25 kilometres to the NGL plant at Wales, West Bank Demerara.
The pipeline would be 12 inches wide, and is expected to transport per day some 50 million standard cubic feet (mscfpd) of dry gas to the NGL plant, but it has the capacity to push as much as 120 mscfpd.
The pipeline’s route onshore would follow the same path as the fibre-optic cables, and will terminate at Hermitage, part of the Wales Development Zone (WDZ) which will house the gas-to-shore project.
The Guyana Government has invited interested parties to make investments in the WDZ, which would be heavily industrialised, and for which approximately 150 acres of land have been allocated. Those lands were previously used by the Wales Sugar Estate.
The other component of the project is the construction of a combined cycle power plant that would generate up to 300 megawatts (MW) of power, with a net 250MW delivered into the Guyana Power and Light Grid at a sub-station located on the East Bank of the Demerara River.
It is expected that the nine companies that were prequalified for the gas-to-shore project would be invited to submit their proposals for constructing the project once the requests for proposals (RFP) go out. (G3)