Guyana, Suriname explore joint industrial site for oil

Oct 24, 2017 News

Suriname’s Staatsolie, the state-owned refinery

Guyana and Suriname will explore sharing an oil processing facility even as new oil companies, like Chevron, bid to explore Guyana’s oil.
“We did discuss with Suriname the possibility of us establishing a joint industrial centre or site to service both countries,” Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman told the media on Monday.
The Minister was being quizzed about his recent visit to Suriname.
Trotman represented Guyana at the annual New Petroleum Producers Discussion Group meeting, which was held in neighbouring country.
“It’s a very good meeting where there is frank discussion (and) sharing of experiences”, Minister Trotman said.
The possibility of sharing a processing facility was broached during meetings between Minister Trotman and his Surinamese counterpart, and the Minister of Finance.
“That’s something that I wish to raise with my minister colleagues here,” Minister Trotman noted.
While the government at this time will not invest in establishing an oil refinery, it has signaled its intention to support the private sector towards this end.
While the private sector has indicated the feasibility of establishing a modular refinery, Minister Trotman said his ministry has not yet been approached.
Meanwhile, the Minister confirmed that Chevron has made “a very good proposal” to work in Guyana.
“It is to be considered and I will be asking Cabinet…for some guidance on that,” he said. “Interest by world class companies such as Chevron demonstrates that there is interest in Guyana’s oil potential,” Minister Trotman added.
Guyana, through US-owned ExxonMobil, has discovered a major oil basin about 100 miles from the coastland. It contains at least 2.8B barrels of oil.
ExxonMobil is moving to start production in 2020, with high interest from exploration companies and others who want to provide services.
At the moment, neighbouring Suriname, which has oil wells too, is also aggressively searching.

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