Exxon looks to private partners for shore bases

Mar 08, 2021 News

…As Opposition presses for State ownership

Kaieteur News – ExxonMobil Guyana, in light of its accelerating operations locally, is currently looking for more shore bases here in order to meet its growing demands.
According to the company, Esso Exploration & Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) — its Guyana Subsidiary — it plans to put in place “an enabling agreement for project shore base facilities, equipment and services to support future Guyana projects.”
As such, the company said, the scope for its Request for Information (RFI) is to identify Contractors who can provide a fully functional, fit for purpose shore base located in Guyana to support the needs of future Guyana projects starting in 2023.

A section of GYSBI

According to ExxonMobil, this RFI “seeks detailed operational and technical information from suppliers for meeting EEPGL’s bid selection requirements for shore base services in Guyana.”
The stipulated criteria as publicized by ExxonMobil calls for potential contractors to have “Documented proof of lease/land ownership; Berthage capacity and capability to support a range of vessels; Dedicated area for storage and staging of materials and equipment; Dedicated area for fabrication; Dedicated office and warehouse space; Dedicated material/cargo handling and equipment.”
This is in addition to personnel, plans, and procedures required to support and operate the shore base.
Included in ExxonMobil’s demand for another shorebase operator are stipulated birthing requirements up to 100 metres load out berth with a minimum draft of six metres and must be able to support 80 tonnes per square inch. Also requested are detailed specifications for a 110m wide x 140m deep fabrication pad with direct access to quayside, perimeter security and ancillary equipment, including cranes capable of hoisting up to 400 tonnes.
According to the company in its invite to potential contractors, “we may use responses from you and the other participants to validate and further develop our team’s recommendations for inclusion in the Request for Proposal (RFP) for shore base services in Guyana.”
The company said that the RFI process effectively “allows us to seek your input and develop a list of qualified bidders before structured bid rules take effect.”
Guyana currently hosts one shore-base operations, the Guyana Shore Base Incorporated (GYBSI), and it serves as ExxonMobil’s sole Guyanese Tier 1 Contractor.
Following this move by ExxonMobil, a motion was tabled in the National Assembly by Member of Parliament (MP) and shadow Minister for the Natural Resources sector, David Patterson, for the formulation of a land use policy.
That motion also calls for the establishment of a multi-agency taskforce and mandates that all future shore bases be state-owned, but leased to private operators.
Patterson’s motion is purportedly premised on the growing need for shore bases to service the needs of the local industry.
GYBSI does not have the capacity to handle Guyana’s shore base needs, and certainly will not be able to handle the growing need on its own, according to Patterson.
The former Public Infrastructure Minister said that while additional shore bases are needed, they must be developed as part of a macro-development plan, and not solely driven by the demand forces of the sector.
He is of the view that the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC), and other relevant agencies should undertake a holistic land use and zoning policy, with key considerations made to facilitate industrial activities of the oil sector.

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