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- Over a dozen Guyanese write US EXIM Bank for Gas-to-Energy documents
Over a dozen Guyanese write US EXIM Bank for Gas-to-Energy documents
Kaieteur News– More than a dozen Guyanese and two organizations have requested the United States Export Import (US EXIM) Bank to share documents relating to the Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project it has provided a US$527M loan to support.
In a statement to the media on Friday, the citizens, Elizabeth Deane-Hughes, Danuta Radzik, Alfred Bhulai, Vincent Adams, Andre Brandli, Vanda Radzik, Janette Bulkan, George Jaikaran, Karen de Souza, Fredrick Collins, Darshanand Khusial, Susan Collymore, Halima Khan, Joy Marcus and Wintress White explained that the request was made on January 10, 2025.
Chair of the US EXIM Bank, Reta Jo Lewis
The Oil & Gas Governance Network (OGGN) as well as the Transparency Institute Guyana Inc (TIGI) also attached their signatures to the letter.
It was explained that the request is now awaiting the Bank’s reply to issue a processing number for a response from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Unit within the EXIM Bank’s system.
According to the statement, “Earlier in their interactions with EXIM Bank, members of Civil Society in Guyana were given the reference number 202500055F on their third attempt to obtain loan application documents.”
Additionally, the citizens pointed out that they are also awaiting information from US-EXIM Bank on their request for other documents. They had requested any feasibility study for the Wales location; any feasibility study for the use of associated gas, per Article 12 of the Petroleum Sharing Agreement 2016; any Gas Utilization Plan and any other document relating to the GTE project.
The US EXIM Bank, on December 26, announced that it has finalized a US$527M loan aid the construction of a natural gas separation plant; a 300 megawatt (MW) combined cycle gas turbine power plant and services related to the gas supply pipeline near Guyana’s capital, Georgetown.
Guyana’s application to the Bank was revealed since April 2023. The country had initially applied for a US$646M loan.
Since no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and feasibility studies were conducted for the controversial project, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo informed that the US EXIM Bank did its own due diligence.
He said, “U.S. EXIM Bank did its own feasibility study, it did an environmental study and it made the loan to the government of Guyana.”
Subsequently, the former Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Vincent Adams challenged the VP to publish the studies.
On Thursday during his weekly press conference, Jagdeo was asked whether he would release the documents when he instructed citizens to seek the information from the Bank.
He argued, “Everything we published… The Kaieteur News used to make a big issue about, ‘Oh we didn’t publish all of these contracts that were signed with the oil companies,’ so we published even the one signed under APNU. We put all of the environmental permits online…now, you want the environmental and feasibility studies from EXIM Bank. Ask EXIM Bank for it.”
Chair of the US EXIM Bank, Reta Jo Lewis is presently in Guyana on a four-day visit. On Friday, she signed the loan agreement while on a site visit to the Wales development site.
(Over a dozen Guyanese write US EXIM Bank for Gas-to-Energy documents)
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