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Suriname refinery unable to process Guyana’s oil-type – boss
Suriname’s refinery, Staatsolie, is not built to handle the type of oil that will be extracted in
Staatsolie’s chief, Rudolph Elias
Guyana.
“Their oil is a much lighter quality. Our refinery was built for the heavy oil that we have landed here in Suriname,” clarified Rudolf Elias, Managing Director of Staatsolie, talking to De Ware Tijd newspaper.
His statement will refute that of Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, who last week reportedly indicated that Suriname is an option to process oil when it is to be pumped from wells offshore Guyana.
“Even if Suriname does its own discoveries in its deep sea area, the type of oil that will be of the same light quality as in Guyana. It will also not be processed in our refinery,” Elias added.
Another problem is the shallow nature of Suriname’s coast.
“Guyana will produce such large quantities that gigantic tankers will be needed to transport up to half a million barrels. Such large vessels cannot even moor to our shores, let alone sail the Suriname River to reach our refinery,” says the director.
Guyana also faces the same problems of shallow coastal and river areas.
Suriname’s state-owned, Staatsolie
“It’s just impossible enough to be dredged to allow large oil tankers. Guyana suffers from the same problem that the shallow coastline makes it unprofitable to build a large refinery.”
Minister Trotman had made it clear last week that it would not be feasible to invest more than US$2B to build a refinery that would largely be sitting idle.
Guyana recently conducted a study to determine whether it made sense to build a refinery.
According to the De Ware Tijd newspaper, the Staatsolie refinery can process up to 15,000 barrels of oil per day. The company produces more on a daily basis, thus leaving no room for oil from other countries.
Under options with ExxonMobil, the US company in 2015 announced one of the largest oil finds in this region, offshore Guyana; this country has the possibilities of taking 50 percent of each barrel of oil pumped. However, the problem it faces is finding a refinery to take off the oil.
Another option is having ExxonMobil take care of the logistics and take part of the profits.
However, Guyana is still to decide. One of the options for refining is to use Trinidad’s facilities.
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