–discovery raises hope of free electricity, cooking gas

MINISTER of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman on Monday disclosed that chances are that Guyana can benefit from free cooking gas and electricity.
His disclosure comes in the wake of the discovery of some 60 million cubic feet per day worth of gas offshore, which amount, though significant, is not enough for commercial purposes.

He explained that though Guyana has not yet decided what to do with the quantity of gas that has been found, Guyanese stand to benefit in some way or the other.
Speaking at his party’s first press conference for the year, the Alliance for Change (AFC) leader told reporters that while he is no expert on the subject, Guyana did not find gas in quantities that can be exported. He said what was found was petroleum, or what is called liquid oil.

“It is such good, crude, sweet oil that it doesn’t take much refining,” he said, adding: “But there is something in the industry called associated gas, so you find some gas, but the main find is liquid petroleum.”
But the big question, he said, is what will the government do with the gas, and cited examples of Trinidad and Tobago and Qatar among other countries that have massive gas fields.

He said there is a difference between associated and non-associated gas, and Guyana was only fortunate thus far to have a little gas coming with its large quantities of oil.
“The gas is not enough to export and earn from, so we do two things: Reinject it so you can get the pressure up, or flare the gas.”
He said that while Exxon Mobil has offered to do the latter, Guyana has no interest in that option, given its “green” agenda.

Another point to ponder is that the gas discovered is just about 50 to 60M cubic feet per day, but in order to get into the gas business, a country would have to have trillions of cubic feet per day, as is the case with Trinidad.
“The offer is that they can bring it onshore; you can use it for energy generation, and you can use it for cooking gas. Every household can get,” the AFC leader said. He said that had it been associated gas, and a large quantity at that, then it would have been a different story.

YET TO DECIDE
Guyana at this stage has to decide on the way forward as it relates to how the gas will be used.
Trotman disclosed that late last year, he met with BOSAI Mineral group about the establishment for a smelter for bauxite here. That company has indicated that the amount of gas discovered is too small for a smelter, and would need about half-a-billion cubic feet per day to have such in place.
“We are thinking; we have not made a decision, because the amount is not large,” Trotman reiterated, while noting that the government can have the gas brought onshore, as was suggested by Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, to be used for electricity until there is a transition to hydro-power.

Currently, the Guyana Power and Light Incorporation (GPL) is operating at 160 megawatts, while the gas discovered is expected to boost power generation to about 200 megawatts.
As Minister Trotman observed, “200 megawatts would take care of all our power needs until we get to hydro.” Noting that Guyana would not have to pay for the gas to be transported onshore, he said: “We are just going to have to pay for the pipelines.”
The AFC leader chided so-called experts who he said have “run abroad, read up a few things and they gone wild” noting that Guyana since its discovery of oil has received several requests from countries far and wide.

“Venezuela says it is their oil; Trinidad is asking us to enter a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with them, requests are coming from Azerbaijan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Brazil to assist…how it is we are the only ones here are not excited and everywhere else there is tremendous excitement about this petroleum find and its prospects.”

Meanwhile, when asked about the possibilities of the oil company syphoning off the discovered resources given that by virtue of the Petroleum Agreement, the Minister must give ExxonMobil seven days’ notice before visiting its operation, Trotman said there is 24-hour presence on board every vessel offshore.

“This is a natural concern, there is a 24 hour presence on board every vessel by Guyana Geology and Mines (GGMC) officers and the intention is that by production we will have both Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Petroleum engineers on board.
“We have anticipated that Guyana is not unique, and there are methods of having real-time assessment of production, calibrating production —so you’d know how much is produced and shipped off,” he explained.