Page 10 - LatAmOil Week 35 2022

LatAmOil GUYANA LatAmOil

The bank governor was speaking just a few days support from industry representatives. Kaie-
after Guyana’s Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo teur News quoted one insurance stakeholder,
told reporters in Georgetown that local insur- for example, as noting that re-insurance was
ance firms did not have the capacity to provide standard operating procedure when large-scale
full coverage for oil spills at Stabroek on its own claims were at stake.
and would have to add re-insurance. Even major international insurance com-
His statement, which was made in response panies have limits on their finances and must
to a reporter’s question on ensuring oil spill cov- find ways to distribute risk, the stakeholder
erage as required by Guyanese law, quickly drew explained. ™

Guyana continues eyeing refinery plans

THE government of Guyana is continuing to petrochemical complex, for example.
explore the possibility of building the country’s Meanwhile, Guyanese economist Richard
first oil refinery and has received multiple pro- Rambarran suggested earlier this year that the
ject proposals from potential investors, Vice government look into the feasibility of building
President Bharrat Jagdeo said last week. a modular refinery capable of meeting domestic
Speaking at a press conference in George- demand to a limited degree. He said the country
town, Jagdeo pointed out that an oil refinery would benefit from having access to a facility
could play a major role in bolstering the coun- capable of turning out enough fuel to supply
try’s energy security, as it would reduce depend- 100% of the local market in the short term or
ence on imported petroleum products. “Because at times when price fluctuations affect import
if we have [a] disaster and we cannot get our sup- costs, as was the case after the outbreak of the
ply of cooking oil, gas or kerosene or anything Russia-Ukraine war earlier this year.
else, having a local refinery – even a small one Schreiner Parker, the senior vice president of
– can [make] a big difference for national energy Norway’s Rystad Energy consultancy, recently
security,” he commented. urged Guyana to consider the project within
The vice president conceded that there might the larger context of the ongoing energy tran-
be certain drawbacks to this option, such as the sition. Before committing to the project, he
increased emissions generated by the refinery, explained, the government should determine
the need to arrange crude supply contracts for whether it will remain economically viable over
the plant and the tax and fiscal advantages that the next few decades, as consumption of petro-
may need to be offered to attract investors to leum-based fuel declines. ™
the project. “When you look at concessions you
have to give, in the long run, it may net out some
of the other benefits,” he remarked.
While Georgetown has yet to make a final
decision on the matter, it is mulling several
options for developing an oil refinery. Chemtech
International has already signalled its interest
and has applied for environmental authori-
sation to build a $200mn oil-processing and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo (Photo: DPI.gov.gy)

SURINAME
TotalEnergies may postpone FID on Block

58 development, RBC Capital Markets says

RBC Capital Markets (Canada) has speculated analyst for RBC Capital Markets, wrote that the
that TotalEnergies (France) may postpone its exact timing of the FID could hinge on the out-
final investment decision (FID) on the develop- come of drilling work at Sapakara South, where
ment of Block 58 offshore Suriname until 2023. TotalEnergies and its US-based partner APA are
In a recent investor note, Scott Hanold, an due to sink an appraisal well later this year.

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 35 31•August•2022