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Govt. Gas Strategy falls short of a high school student’s research paper
AFC MP, David Patterson
Kaieteur News – The Alliance For Change (AFC) has tossed the Government of Guyana’s (GoG’s) Draft Gas Utilization Plan aside, insisting that the document falls short of a research paper done by a high school student.
Member of Parliament, David Patterson, the party’s spokesperson on Oil and Gas was at the time responding to a question from Kaieteur News during a recent press conference when he noted that the Gas Strategy has failed to highlight key options for the utilisation of the country’s natural resource. “I, like the rest of the country, was eagerly awaiting this gas strategy by the government. I think it fell short of any expectation; it fell short of even a high school student’s research paper…so it’s very hard for us to comment on a non-existent gas strategy,” the Member of Parliament (MP) stated.
He explained that the administration previously touted the other benefits of gas being piped to shore for the country to benefit from fertilizers and other by-products; however, there is no mention of the development of gas for these purposes in the draft plan. Patterson also pointed out that the document also fails to address any plans for future stand-alone gas discoveries.
The former Minister of Public Infrastructure explained that the previous administration had left an Oil and Gas Master Plan in place which he believes is still relevant. “While we were there, included in that strategy was utilisation of natural gas for public transportation- you can power a bus a car…we can use natural gas other than just simply using it for those things like that. We also spoke about trying to do further processing of the gas, we also looked at the possibility of containerization and export. We looked at power barges as opposed to putting a fixed plant here,” the Member of Parliament explained.
Further, he reasoned that there are still unanswered questions on how Guyana could utilize gas resources found outside of the Stabroek Block. “What happens in the event of say Tullow, if they somewhere in the Kaieteur or Canje Block hits a gas field, how does that integrate into, because obviously the gas pipe that we are building is owned by Exxon, now Exxon will not allow Tullow to link up into their gas pipe…”
Patterson pointed out that neighbouring Trinidad has a standalone gas project, a key consideration for Guyana in the monetization of its gas resources.
On the other hand, Patterson said that Trinidad formerly provided free natural gas to taxis and minibuses to offset transportation costs. He said this system can be developed in Guyana too.
Meanwhile, he noted that the Ghanaian government has developed a hub for all the resources from various companies to be linked. Similarly, he said Guyana needs a hub rather than develop the resources in different parts of the country. “You can’t go in Wales, and then you want one in Berbice. When you have a whole plan, you have a hub and all the various operators that strike oil, they pump into the central hub, the government pays them (based on) whatever agreement and the government takes that and puts it where it wants to,” the MP said.
Patterson reasoned, “That is what a master plan is, it’s not just simply huff and fluff that Jagdeo keeps doing and talking about urea and so forth. You must have a (plan) not only how to use the gas, it’s the location because you are planning something which you have a reasonable idea that may or may not be there so therefore you have to have a location because you can’t bring any more gas into Wales without causing any disruption.”
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