THOUGH not refuting the claim that Suriname is in no position to process Guyana’s oil when production starts in 2020, Minister of Natural Resources,Raphael Trotman said his announcement that Suriname is willing to do refining for Guyana was based on the

information available to him.

His statement comes one day after Managing Director of Staatsolie Oil Refinery,Rudolf Elias told De Ware Tijd that the Suriname’s Oil Refinery is in no position to process Guyana’s oil. Minister Trotman last week told reporters that Trinidad and Suriname had signaled their intention of making available their facilities to undertake the process. In a statement issued on Tuesday by his ministry,Trotman said he appreciates the media’s attention on this issue and will endeavour to seek clarity from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the potential utility of the Suriname refinery.

However, in an interview with De Ware Tijd, Elias said Staatsolie’s Refinery was not built to handle the type of oil that will be extracted out of Guyana. “Their oil is a much lighter quality. Our refinery was built for the heavy oil that we have landed here in Suriname,” the Managing Director contended.

In refuting statements made by Minister Trotman, Elias said “even if Suriname does its own discoveries in its deep sea area, that type of oil will be of the same light quality as in Guyana, it will also not be processed in our refinery.” He argued too that moving the crude from Guyana to Suriname will also be a major challenge due to the shallow nature of Suriname’s coast. “Guyana will produce such large quantities that gigantic tankers would be needed…to transport up to half a million barrels. Such large vessels cannot even moor to our shores, let alone the Suriname River sail to reach our refinery,” he explained.

He added: “It’s just impossible enough to be dredged to allow large oil tankers. Guyana suffers from the same problem that the shallow coastline makes it unprofitable to build a large refinery.” According to reports, Staatsolie’s Refinery can process up to 15, 000 barrels of oil per day.
Minister Trotman had made it clear that there was no formal agreement in place for the refining of oil from the Stabroek Block with either Trinidad or Suriname, alluding to the fact that Government has hired a consultant to conduct a high-level feasibility assessment to determine whether investing in an oil refinery is a viable economic option.

The consultant, Pedro Haas, is the ?Director of Advisory Services at Hartree Partners – a US based company involved in providing advisory services in upstream and downstream trading and regulatory subjects in the oil and gas industry. In addition to the proposal put by Trinidad and Tobago, the Guyanese Natural Resources Minister disclosed that Suriname has indicated its willingness to assist Guyana, since that country’s refinery is also operating below par.
He said ExxonMobil may wish to do some of its own refining. “The Government of Guyana under the terms of agreement can also determine whether it wishes to receive its portion in oil and therefore may wish to use the available facilities nearby, either Suriname or Trinidad or build one here,” he said.

As regards the verification of the volumes of oil found, Trotman said it is more of an auditing function which will be shared between the Ministries of Natural Resources and Finance.
He added that the framework is already in place and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the regulatory Petroleum Commission, which is coming on stream in a few months, will share the responsibilities of that process. Exxon Mobil Country Manager,Jeff Simmons,who was present at the forum,noted that the grade of oil refined in the Twin Island Republic is of a lower grade than that which was discovered offshore Guyana. Simmons said that he is uncertain what will be required as regards refining oil in either of the two countries, noting that there is no agreement in place.