–fair compensation promised for landowners

THE Government of Guyana will now have greater control over lands being used by petroleum operators, be it private or State-owned. This was made possible through the passage of the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) (Amendment) Bill 2021, in the National Assembly on Monday.

The Bill, piloted by Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat, seeks to amend Section 52 of the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, Chapter 65:04, which speaks to restrictions on rights of licensees and surface rights.

Moreover, the amendments also pave the way for private landowners to be compensated for lands that are to be acquired in pursuit of the heavily-touted gas-to-shore and other similar projects stemming from the petroleum sector.

In joining the debate on the amendments, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill assured the National Assembly that all property owners whose lands would have to be acquired for petroleum-related projects are fairly compensated. “No citizen will be bullied; no citizen’s land will be taken away, but if, by any chance, the lands have to be utilised, the Constitution will be upheld where there will be acquisition based upon fair price, so we don’t have an issue of issuing orders to acquire land,” Minister Edghill explained.

Public Works Minister, Deodat Indar also added his voice to the debate, highlighting the fact that the amendments will enable the realisation of projects which could possibly save Guyana some US$90 million in the purchase of Heavy Fuel Oils for the operations of the Guyana Power and Light generators.

SLASH IN COST
The realisation of the gas-to-shore project is expected to slash the cost of power generation by at least half. The project is being pursued by ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL).

In a project summary recently submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the oil company said that the US$900 million project will be executed in several phases, namely, engineering, construction, commissioning, operations and decommissioning.

“The engineering phase will include design, front-end engineering and design (FEED), and detailed engineering. The construction phase will include procurement, fabrication and construction, installation, commissioning and start-up,” the document, as seen by this newspaper, outlined.

It explained that the operations aspect will be the longest phase of the project, with a duration of at least two-and-a-half decades. “Start-up of the facilities is expected to occur in 2024,” the summary indicated. The ground-breaking project will include the construction and operation of a pipeline from the Liza Phase 1 and Liza Phase 2 Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessels to an onshore natural gas liquid (NGL) and natural gas processing (NGP) plant.

“The pipeline will transport up to approximately 50 million standard cubic feet per day (MSCFD) of dry gas to the NGL Plant,” the document informed.
It related, too, that “the NGL Plant will drop the pressure of the gas, dehydrate the gas, separate out propane, butane and pentanes+, and treat the gas to the specification to be received by a planned power plant.”

The gas-to-shore project will be established at Wales, West Bank Demerara, the document reminded.
“A comprehensive site evaluation process was conducted; 20 sites were evaluated, based on a number of criteria, including topography/elevation, soil conditions, biodiversity, socioeconomic factors, site access, and pipeline routing,” the EPA was told.

STRATEGICALLY CHOSEN
Added to that, Minister Bharrat told the House that the location for the project was strategically chosen, based on the fact that Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) is the fastest growing region in the country. It is also directly linked to the heavily-populated Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica). Region Three is also a gateway to Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

The oil company said that of all the sites assessed, the plot at Wales was determined to be most suitable, based on constructability, environmental, socioeconomic, and biodiversity perspectives.
Added to that, the oil company also has plans to utilise the plot of land just adjacent to the intended project site. The area, which accounts for mainly abandoned sugarcane fields, is owned by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).

“The site is generally of low value to wildlife. No critical biodiversity (plant or animal) is expected to occur at the site. There is no human habitation at the site… there are no known cultural sites or traditional uses within the site,” the company justified.

Once established, the power plant will be owned and operated by the Government of Guyana until alternative ownership options are considered. In its operations, the gas-to-shore project is expected to create in excess of 600 jobs.

The gas-to-shore project forms a major part of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government’s plan to reduce the cost of energy by at least 50 per cent through an energy mix, which also pursues energy generation using wind, solar and water.

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, also used his time on the floor to criticise the Opposition A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) for attempting to derail projects aimed at improving the lives of Guyanese. He made specific reference to the Opposition withholding its support for the Amaila Falls Hydropower project, “purely for political reasons, and solely because they did not want the project to become a reality under the PPP/C”.

Nonetheless, Minister Bharrat reminded, specifically, that once operationalised, the gas-to-shore project is intended to also reduce the existing spate of power outages that have long hindered productivity in the country.

“Mr. Speaker, besides reduction in energy cost and in our light bills, as we would commonly say, the gas-to-energy project will reduce the power outages that we have been experiencing over a number of years,” Minister Bharat told the House.

He added, “It is no secret that with the reduction of power, cost of living in Guyana would reduce significantly, and this is something we have been grappling with for years, and more so during a global pandemic.”

The government’s aim is to have Guyana become the energy capital of the region, whilst using the lucrative oil-and-gas sector to springboard other massive industries such as agriculture.