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The Pluma field contains mostly natural gas (Image: ExxonMobil)

Jagdeo comments on Guyana’s plans

for developing offshore gas reserves

GUYANA’S Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has as a thermal power plant (TPP) and natural gas
said that his country sees its untapped natural liquids (NGL) plant, and indirectly, by ensuring
gas reserves as the next priority for development supplies of low-cost electricity.
now that efforts to exploit offshore oilfields are But Jagdeo indicated that Georgetown had
underway. even broader ambitions for the country’s gas
Speaking to Reuters prior to delivering a reserves. He told Reuters he believed that gas
speech at the CERAWeek conference in Hou- could transform the country, which is home to
ston, Jagdeo indicated that crude oil remained about 800,000 people.
Guyana’s top priority. He also said, though, that The government sees gas as a means of mon-
the South American country wanted to diversify etising its natural resources and creating new
its energy sector and secure new sources of reve- industries, he said.
nue before the transition to renewables reduced Guyanese authorities expect to receive a plan
demand for fossil fuels. from ExxonMobil for developing gas deposits at
Guyana is one of the world’s newest oil pro- Stabroek later this year, he continued. They are
ducers. It did not make its first commercial dis- also in discussions with technicians and consult-
covery until 2015 or bring its first field on stream ants on developing a comprehensive national
until late 2019. strategy for supplying gas to a range of facilities
But since then it has emerged as a power- ranging from petrochemical plants to LNG
house, with recoverable reserves estimated at export terminals, he said.
more than 11bn barrels of oil equivalent (boe) The vice president indicated that Guyana
and crude output from Stabroek, a block being was interested in the possibility of becoming an
developed by ExxonMobil (US) and its partners, exporter of LNG but did not divulge any details
now standing at around 360,000 barrels per day of the proposals it had received or identify the
(bpd). firms that had offered to participate in such pro-
However, ExxonMobil is not using or selling jects. “We’ve had a number of those companies
the associated gas it extracts from the Liza-1 come to us and say, ‘Should you do that, we want
and Liza-2 fields at the massive Stabroek block. to be considered,’” he told Reuters.
Instead, it is re-injecting the gas to maintain res- Jagdeo also did not name any potential
ervoir pressure in its producing oil wells – and sources of gas for future LNG developments.
will continue to do so until Guyana’s ambitious Reuters noted, though, that ExxonMobil’s
Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project is launched in late 6.6mn-acre (26,710-square km) Stabroek block
2024. was home to the Pluma discovery, which was
The GTE project is designed to bring gas to announced in 2018. Pluma is close to Guyana’s
shore via pipeline so that can be used as feed- maritime border with Suriname, where other oil
stock for domestic electricity and chemical pro- and gas discoveries have been made.
duction at a cost of about $1bn. It is designed to According to the vice president, if ExxonMo-
boost the local economy and help create jobs – bil does not utilise Pluma, it will have to relin-
both directly, by establishing new facilities such quish its rights to the field. ™

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