Study launched to determine feasibility of piping natural gas to shore

Apr 28, 2017 News

Government has started moves to determine the feasibility of bringing natural gas from the oil well that will be operated by US-owned ExxonMobil, via pipelines to shore, to power its generators.
The announcement was made yesterday by Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, during his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing.
The location of the proposed oil well is more than 100 miles offshore Guyana, and commercial operations are expected to commence in three years’ time, 2020.
With a huge amount of natural gas and Guyana depending on imported fossil fuel to meet its energy needs, the administration is hoping to bring down costs significantly from the over US$80M spent annually by the Guyana Power and Light Inc.
On Tuesday, Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, made a proposal to Cabinet for a study that will determine the way forward. The plan was approved.
According to Harmon, the US$70,000 desk study is to determine the options, cost, economics, impact, and key considerations of transporting and utilising natural gas from offshore Guyana for electricity generation.
Already, Energy Narrative, a network of energy experts, which provides strategic market analysis to industry and government leaders across the Americas, has already begun the eight-week study.
Among other things, Energy Narrative will seek to verify the natural gas supply projections and
analyse the technical feasibility of the proposed natural gas pipeline.
The consultant will also seek to compare the proposed natural gas pipeline with other transportation media and analyse the technical feasibility of existing power generation equipment.
One of the important tasks of the consultant, also, will be to analyse the cost to deliver natural gas and estimated impact on electricity prices.
The company has submitted its financial and technical proposals to the government, Minister Harmon noted.
Over 100 countries around the world have been utilizing natural gas for energy needs, with the US being the biggest.
The latest information from ExxonMobil quantifies the available natural gas, which was found along with the oil, at around 30-50 million cubic feet per day.
“That amount can provide, if we choose to go in that direction, a 200 megawatt generation plant,” Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman has said.
“These are decisions that have to be made, including the decision as to where we wish to land the gas if there is going to be a pipeline along the coast whether from Georgetown right up to Crab Island,” Minister Trotman pointed out.
Natural gas, while not green, is cleaner than fossil fuel which is currently consumed for electricity generation in Guyana. Minister Trotman had previously noted that Guyana currently imports some 4.7M barrels of fuel yearly. Using natural gas for energy production could dramatically reduce the country’s fuel bill which is also the largest foreign currency bill, the Minister posited.

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