Page 4 - LatAmOil Week 18 2022

COMMENTARY Y
LatAmOil COMMENTAR LatAmOil

(Image: Screenshot of graphic from OilNOW.gy)
Is Guyana gearing up to

make gas a higher priority?

ExxonMobil has been concentrating on oil at Stabroek, but there are some signs that

associated gas production may become more important than it has been in the past

STABROEK, a deepwater block located offshore gas-to-power (GTP) project that has the poten-
Guyana, contains both crude oil and associated tial to change Guyana’s economy for the better.
WHAT: gas. Thus far, though, its operator ExxonMobil The scheme is designed to give the country a
Guyana’s natural (US) has made oil the focus of its development way to use domestically produced gas to make
resources minister says programme. electricity cheap and plentiful, thereby reduc-
a second offshore gas That is, the US super-major is extracting both ing its fuel import bills and encouraging the
pipeline may be needed. crude oil and associated gas. But it is not han- establishment of new manufacturing facilities.
dling them in the same fashion. When it extracts It could also lay the groundwork for investment
WHY: oil, it loads it onto tankers for export to world in gas-based industries such as fertiliser and pet-
There is some circum- markets. rochemical production.
stantial evidence of By contrast, when it extracts gas, it does not Nevertheless, the GTP project is still a rela-
additional gas finds at
Stabroek. even fully utilise it. Instead, it re-injects most tively low priority for ExxonMobil. No matter
of what it produces back into its reservoirs and how much the initiative might boost Guyana’s
WHAT NEXT: flares off limited volumes while it waits for per- economy, the US super-major and its partners
Additional exploration mission to begin work on a pipeline that will be are still thinking more about how much oil they
could help build a strong- able to start pumping gas to shore for local use can extract and export from Stabroek than how
er case for gas utilisation in a few years. much gas the block might hold.
and development. This planned pipeline is part of a $900mn Or are they?

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 18 05•May•2022