CGX resumes construction for deepwater harbour

Mar 21, 2021 News

…engineering designs complete, contracts for roads, bridge signed —Co Chair

An artist’s impression of the Berbice Deepwater Port being pursued by CGX Energy Guyana Inc.0

Kaieteur News – CGX Guyana Inc., the Canada-based oil exploration company operating in the Corentyne and Demerara Blocks offshore Guyana says it has already expended US$1.2M on a number of projects in pursuit of the construction of its Berbice deepwater port.
The announcement was made this past week, when the company released its audited consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2020, together with its Management Discussion and Analysis.
CGX Energy’s Co-Chairman, Gabriel de Alba, in updating shareholders, reported that the company has “resumed construction of the Berbice deepwater port, the aim of which is to accommodate the rapidly growing exploration activities across the Guyana-Suriname basin, as well as to support growth of the Guyanese economy by supporting agricultural, containerized and general cargo. We are excited about our opportunities to generate value for our shareholders.”
The CGX Chairman has since informed that in October 2020, Grand Canal Industrial Estates Inc.—a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company—entered into various contracts to recommence work on its Berbice deepwater port project.
According to Alba, “Grand Canal is completely renovating a 3.1 km road leading from the Corentyne Highway to the port.”
He reported that the contract for the road commenced on October 18, 2020, and is expected to be completed at a cost of approximately US$703,000.
The CGX Co-Chair reported too that a contract for the construction of a bridge connecting the Corentyne Highway to the road being renovated was awarded as recently as February and that is expected to be completed at a cost of approximately US$450,000.
According to Alba, Grand Canal has also entered into contracts for the relocation of utility services along the renovated roadway.
As it relates to updated engineering designs for the port yard along the Berbice River, he reported to shareholders that these have since been completed, at a cost of US$34,840.
It was pointed out that the tendering of the port yard civil work, restricted to local contractors, has also begun and that a contract, at a cost of US$27,200 was awarded for the re-design of the dredging of the harbour.
This in order to enable both Handymax Vessels and Offshore Support Vessels to access the port, so that the expanded port project can handle both oil and gas offshore operations support as well as agricultural and general cargo.
According to Alba, a contract at a cost of US$42,500 was also awarded for an updated marketing study and revenue model for the expanded scope of the port project.
The company has since also reported that a contract at a cost of approximately US$25,000 was awarded for the review of the engineering design of the laydown yard, new road and new bridge.
“Engineering design of a new alternate access road from the Eastern Access Roadway of the Berbice Bridge to the port site and new connecting bridge across the Grand Canal is expected to be completed by mid-2021,” Alba said.
The Berbice deepwater port is set to be 4.8 km from the Berbice River mouth.
In 2010, the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission in its land use-planning map for Region 6, had earmarked the area for the development of a deep seaport, new airport runway of 1.2km and an industrial park.
Alba in his report, told shareholders, “CGX commenced 2021 with the management team continuing its progress toward optimizing the Company’s financial performance and strengthening its balance sheet and on maximizing its unique opportunities in its highly prospective blocks in the Guyana basin.”
According to Alba, “operationally, we are focused on executing a world-class exploration program on our Corentyne and Demerara offshore blocks, which cover 2.7 million gross acres in one of the world’s most promising offshore basins.”
He said that in order to support the effort, “we have built a best-in-class technical and operational team, which gives us further confidence in successfully implementing our plan, evaluating strategic opportunities and realizing this opportunity in a prolific basin that has immense interest in the industry.”
Providing a forecast for 2021, Co-Chairman, Professor, Suresh Narine, remarked that “looking ahead, CGX Energy is now poised to launch an exciting exploration plan for the Kawa-1 and Makarapan-1 wells on the Corentyne and Demerara Blocks, leveraging the strategic and technical support of the Company’s key shareholder and joint venture partner, Frontera Energy Corporation.”
According to Professor Narine, “as we enter 2021, we are excited for these multiple opportunities to create value for CGX Energy’s stakeholders in the years to come.”