–to assist with Gas Leak Management Plan

TWO Qatari oil-and-gas experts are expected here this week to assist with the preparation of the Gas Leak Management Plan for the Wales gas-to-energy project, Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat has said.

As discussions into the Budget Estimates continued on Tuesday last before the Committee of Supply, Minister Bharrat faced questions from Opposition Member of Parliament David Patterson on how the gas-leak management plan was coming along.

The minister explained that a technical team from the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) is working along with the operator, ExxonMobil Guyana’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), on the study, and that the country will now be able to benefit from assistance from Qatar as well.

“With the recent visit from the Petroleum Minister from Qatar to Guyana, we have managed, on building our relationship, to secure two experts that will be in the country next week,” Minister Bharrat said, adding: “Qatar is sending the experts to Guyana to assist us with the gas-leak plan, at no cost to us. This is Qatar’s way of showing their appreciation to Guyana; they will be paying for that.”

Minister Bharrat further explained that the plan is also being funded by the operator, as part of its laying of the pipeline.

“These studies are ongoing; the operator has been assisting with all the studies, along with our technical team, so you will not see an allocation [in the Budget] assigned to it. But it is being done between ourselves and the operator; they are actually paying for it, in other words,” Minister Bharrat explained.

Gas-leak management plans are widely used in the petroleum sector, and is a major factor in the implementation of measures to address risks having to do with a gas distribution pipeline.

The Gas-to-Energy Project will see a 200km 12-inch diameter pipeline channeling natural gas from the Liza Phase One and Liza Phase Two Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessels to a power plant and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) facility that will be built in Wales, on the West Bank Demerara.

The pipeline will be landing on the West Coast Demerara shore, and continue approximately 25km to the NGL/power plant facility.

A minimum of 50 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd) will be transported through the pipeline by 2024; however, the pipeline will have will have a maximum capacity of 130 mmscfd.

The pipeline, which is expected to cost US$1 billion, will be funded by ExxonMobil’s local affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), as part of cost oil. However, the power plant and NGL facility will be funded by the government.

The conversion of natural gas from ExxonMobil’s offshore operations to electricity is a key component of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government’s objective to lower energy costs by at least 50 per cent through an energy mix which incorporates gas, solar, wind, and ‘hydro’ power.