GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The government is planning to monetize its natural gas resources found within the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana to generate cheaper energy and create other products helpful to individuals.
This is according to the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, and the Vice President.
“We believe we can monetize our gas [and] do it through various sources. We can ship it to an LNG floating platform; that’s one option. We can bring the gas onshore to a bigger pipeline, not the 12 inches, and then use it to generate power,” said Jagdeo, who was speaking during a recent press conference.
He said this natural gas-generated power can be marketed to Northern Brazil, which is currently being purchased from Venezuela.
“That’s a very lucrative venture. We can then use it for [the] petrochemical industry, so we believe that there is [a] big use for the gas.”
In January, President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced the government’s plans to accelerate the monetization of the country’s gas resources, estimated at 17 trillion cubic feet (tcf), and would request proposals for this purpose.
In March, the general secretary revealed that the Ministry of Natural Resources reviewed Expression of Interest (EIOs) for a model to help Guyana monetize gas assets.
“They have had some excellent firms with good credentials that said, “We believe there is a viable project, and we want to work on it” …they have selected a company now, the evaluators…that company will now have to sit down with ExxonMobil,” he said.
“Parallel to that, we had some discussions with Exxon…and said, if you’re not moving forward, you have to relinquish. So, they did some studies and said we believe we can move forward with a project.”
Even if ExxonMobil cannot proceed with the project, the general secretary said other prolific companies might be willing to proceed with the gas monetization.
A draft of the Guyana Gas Monetization Strategy was released for public consultation in October 2023. According to Jagdeo, the Natural Resource Ministry is working alongside a consultant to finalize that document, which is integral to the gas monetization plans.
The draft strategy lists various monetization options, such as using natural gas for power generation and producing methanol, liquefied natural gas (LNG), ammonia/urea, and blue ammonia/hydrogen.
Guyana began oil production in 2019 in the Stabroek Block offshore. In addition to oil, the block also contains recoverable natural gas resources.
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