Latest update September 6th, 2026 7:34 PM
Second Gas-to-Energy project must be backed by feasibility study – Norton
(Kaieteur News) – As the government of Guyana (GoG) advances plans for a second Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project to be constructed in Berbice, leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R), Aubrey Norton has flagged the need for a feasibility study to be conducted citing the ‘messy’ Wales project.
During a party press conference last week, the former Opposition Leader commented on the ambitious plan announced by President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge who said President Irfaan Ali wants the second pipeline to be laid before he completes his second term in 2030.
Leader of the PNC/R, Aubrey Norton
Norton told reporters, “The government has messed up the first one. It would be a waste to start a next one.”
To this end, he pointed to the need for a feasibility study to be conducted. The party leader warned that although plans have been announced, the country has not seen a feasibility study underlining the need for another investment in that regard. Consequently, he suggested that a second gas project in the absence of a financial study may be “self-serving” rather than development-focused.
He stressed the need for the country to consider alternative options for the use of its gas resources, proposing that a mix of containerized gas be explored for transportation onshore or to export markets.
“The government’s failure to look at other options is terrible. We cannot complete it or say what the price of electricity will be unless they subsidize the energy…we do not support a wild approach to complete it before the president leaves office,” Norton contended.
Meanwhile, co-leader of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and Member of Parliament (MP), David Hinds noted that the biggest failure of the government is that it does not engage in economic politics. Instead, he suggested that government designs “political projects” with the hope of economic impact. Hinds pointed out that the site selection for the project is politically motivated, a point that was reinforced by MP Vinceroy Jordan.
The MP explained that the Opposition previously sounded the alarm over the Wales site in Region Three for the first GTE project, as it was not the best suited location. He pointed out that the government has hopped across several deadlines since 2024 as the project crawls to completion. Moreover, Jordan reminded that the country has been forced to spend millions of US-dollars on soil deficiencies and delays which is likely to repeat as the administration moves towards its base for the second gas project, likely to cost twice as much.
“The government now running to Region Six tells us that again they are moving to their base which is a PPP supported base…the government places a lot of resources and money into Region Six and Region Three while places like Region 10 and parts of Region Four, even Region Five they have not invested similarly…they will invest but then the tax payers will be left to spend billions of dollars behind something that will fail eventually because the soil might not be right, the location might not be right and then the government just goes to the treasury, take out the money and spend it,” Jordan argued.
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