Questions raised over Guyana’s preparedness for gas explosions

Aug 13, 2022 News

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– Attorney cites latest fuel depot disaster in Cuba

 By Davina Bagot

Kaieteur News – A series of explosions at a Cuba fuel depot has brought Guyana’s preparedness for such disasters into sharp focus. In fact, Attorney-at-Law and resident of Wales, West Bank Demerara, Elizabeth Deane-Hughes has since raised a number of pertinent questions regarding the Wales Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project that is being developed by the Government of Guyana and its partner, ExxonMobil.

The GTE venture will involve a pipeline that will transport the resource from the Liza Phase One and Two fields, offshore Guyana, to the Wales facility where the gas will be separated and treated at a Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Plant and then used to generate some 300 megawatts of electricity. Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), the subsidiary of ExxonMobil that will be undertaking the project has revealed that a minimum of 50 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd) will be transported through the pipeline by 2024. It has also said that the pipeline would have a maximum capacity of 130 mmscfd.

Given the highly flammable nature of gas, the attorney has wasted no time in penning her concerns to the Guyana Fire Service, seeking immediate clarity. In a letter to the Fire Chief, Gregory Wickham dated August 11, 2022, Deane-Hughes asked that the response agency explain its current capacity of handling a fire caused by a gas pipeline.

She also requested that the GFS share its plans to upgrade its current capacity to fight fires that may be caused due to a gas explosion at one of the facilities, as well as the timeline in which this upgrade is likely to come on stream. Additionally, the attorney said it was important to know whether any other inter-governmental or inter-agency committee is considering the GTE project and its risks regarding fires and explosions in the meantime.

Deane-Hughes was keen to note that these concerns ought to be addressed urgently as the project continues to race ahead without any evidence of safety or protection for the citizens of Guyana and residents of Wales especially.

In an invited comment on Friday, the attorney told Kaieteur News, “I saw firsthand how challenged the GFS was in dealing with the Brickdam fire and…at the end of the day all the buildings in the compound collapsed (or) most of them except for the concrete one on the eastern side.”

To this end, she urged, “It is imperative that we understand how to handle a gas fire. I imagine its some level of specialty so it is imperative that the fire service and all other first responders to a potential gas explosion have the requisite training.”

The attorney reasoned that without the requisite training, if an explosion occurs, the public is completely unaware of how such a disaster could be contained. According to her, “we don’t know what can happen because there are wind factors to cater to…depends on what gets damaged and who gets damaged.”

She told this newspaper that even though the Cuba fire affected an oil depot, it is important to note that there have been gas pipeline fires that occurred over the last two months. In this regard, she argued, “it is a specialized training that is required and Guyana has never had any reason to have the Guyana Fire Service equipped in this area so I would like to know what are the training mechanisms being put in place for this, what is the implementation date, how is it going to be done. Is it going to be done through a loan? Are we funding this out of the Natural Resource Fund? Is it a budgetary allocation? There are a lot of questions around it that we the citizens of Guyana would like to know.”

Only on Wednesday, this publication reported that it took firefighters five-days to finally control the fiery destruction at a Cuban oil depot. The blaze at the Matanzas oil facility was reportedly caused after lightning struck the facility. Matanzas is the country’s largest port for receiving crude oil and fuel imports. Cuban heavy crude, as well as fuel oil and diesel are stored in 10 huge tanks at the port and are mainly used to generate electricity on the island.

Cuban officials have described the five-day blaze as the worst in Cuba’s history. According to international reports, the fire destroyed 40 percent of the Caribbean island’s main fuel storage facility and caused enormous power outages.

It was on Friday evening when the lightning struck one of the fuel storage tanks and by Sunday spread to a second. The fire spread to a fourth-oil tank by Monday. The fire was accompanied by huge explosions and despite efforts by Cuban firefighters supported by more than 100 Mexican and Venezuelan reinforcements it continued ravaging until day five.

According to Cuban reports, one firefighter died and 14 went missing on Saturday when the second tank blew up, as five were reported to be in a critical condition. Firefighter Rafael Perez Garriga told Reuters on the steaming outskirts of the disaster that he worries the fire would impact the power situation in the country.

On Tuesday, more helicopters joined the effort to put out the fire, along with two fireboats sent by Mexico along with heavy firefighting equipment.

 

 

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