Govt. officers, ExxonMobil discuss natural gas as power source

Sep 22, 2017 News

— Minister Harmon insists no decisions taken

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon

By Kiana Wilburg
Technical officers attached to various Government bodies as well as USA oil giant, ExxonMobil were recently engaged in discussions for two days at the Marriott Hotel, which sought to explore the potential of bringing natural gas to Guyana’s shores as well as the benefits of its domestic use.
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon noted during a press conference, yesterday, that it was Public Infrastructure Minister, David Patterson, who briefed Cabinet on the details of the discussions among the members of the working group.
Harmon said that the workshop was held over two days. It ended on Wednesday. The working group comprised technical officers from the Ministries of Finance, Natural Resources, Infrastructure, and Business. There were also representatives from the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest), the Guyana Power and Light, the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) and of course, ExxonMobil’s power generation analysts and commercial specialists.
Harmon said that ExxonMobil’s oil discovery in the Liza offshore well in 2015 includes associated natural gas. As such, the Guyana Government commenced and continues preliminary discussions with ExxonMobil on bringing gas to shore for the purpose of meeting the country’s domestic power and energy demands in the medium term.
The Cabinet Secretary said that the session brought together key entities in the energy and power generation sector to foster discussions, share experiences and lend consideration to the potential transportation of associated gas from the Liza Phase one development for affordable onshore power generation.
Harmon emphasized, “No decisions have been taken at the Governmental level nor have negotiations ensued regarding the development of this project. Discussions were on the commercial use of natural gas as a transitional fuel for Guyana’s economy.”
The Cabinet Secretary said that this could involve the landing of a pipeline to bring gas onshore, the possibility of a power generation facility as well as the design and mapping of an industrial park creating the nexus for other industrial facilities and community development.
The Minister said, “No site has been selected for this potential industrial concept and government officers will continue to engage and exercise due diligence in the evaluation and assessment of possible site locations fit for these purposes.
“Discussions also highlighted the complementary role of natural gas to other renewable sources of energy such as hydro and solar bearing in mind Guyana’s international obligations to becoming a green state economy.”
He added, “Natural gas is a cleaner burning source of energy and therefore provides an alternative option to Guyana’s historical reliance of fuel.”
Minister Harmon said that the second day of discussions saw the group being joined by several Ministers, including Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson; Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman; and Business Minister, Dominic Gaskin.
Harmon, who was also there, said that presentations were conducted on local and international power generation experiences particularly as it relates to commercial structures and approaches to power investment.
The Minister said that the group is expected to review all information in alignment with national priorities and objectives. He said that the group will continue to engage ministers and the relevant entities so as to conduct further works on the areas presented and develop a further understanding of gas exportation from a regulatory financial and policy perspective.
The Cabinet Secretary said that the Government is encouraged by the potential to bring natural gas to shore and remains committed to cleaner energy.