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Guyana interest paramount in negotiations with Curlew Midstream – Jagdeo
(Kaieteur News) – The Government of Guyana (GoG) will only sign an agreement with United States-based company Curlew Midstream if the country stands to be protected in the long term, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has said.
Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo
Curlew Midstream, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, specialises in energy infrastructure and operates terminal facilities in South Louisiana.
Back in February, President Irfaan Ali announced that the Government of Guyana (GoG) would soon partner with U.S. based company to refine and store locally produced oil. The announcement was made at the opening ceremony of the 2025 Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo at the Marriott Hotel.
At that time, the head-of-state said that the details of the agreement were still to be ironed out but noted the scale and importance of the investment, stating that it would enhance regional energy security and economic growth.
President Ali explained that Curlew Midstream is expected to process 30,000 barrels of oil per day from Guyana by the end of 2025. This will see an initial investment of at least US$300 million in the first two years.
He noted that the project will result in refined petroleum products being available at lower prices in Guyana while also establishing the country as a hub for fuel distribution across northern Brazil and the wider Caribbean region.
However, on Thursday, the vice president told reporters, at a press conference held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, that negotiations were ongoing prior to the September 1, 2025 General and Regional Elections but there were major challenges during the process causing it to halt.
“We could not conclude the deal before the elections and then we put it on pause. We have to re-engage with Curlew and others to ensure that the objectives are met, and we’ll only sign up to any an agreement that protects Guyana in the long term and but that yields significant short-term benefits to our country,” Jagdeo explained.
The vice president noted that the government wants to procure fuel in bulk so as to have a tank farm here. That way, the price to procure fuel will be reduced by 20-35 percent.
“…that’s entirely doable… if we can do that. Although we have the lowest gasoline and diesel price in the Caribbean because of the government subsidy, we can get that price even further down… significantly down because we’d be able to procure our fuel cheaper and that is the essence of the deal. If that can’t [happen]…[or] an agreement doesn’t deliver that…benefit us through lower procurement cost and protects us in the long run, we’re not going to sign it,” Jagdeo said.
He assured that the government’s lawyers are working on the deal, but government will not be convenient and sign onto anything that will harm the country in the future.
“We’re not going to be rushed into signing any agreement. You saw what APNU+AFC did with the 2016 PSA. They were advised not to sign it overnight. Trotman went and signed it. We’re stuck with the consequences of it up to today,” he reminded while adding, “So that’s where we are with Curlew. We would do all of the due diligence and we make sure that the agreement when concluded…if we can conclude it, protects the people of Guyana.
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