NO decision has been made by the government as yet to establish a modular oil refinery in Guyana.

On Thursday last, Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, noted that while the government has received a number of offers during a Request for Proposal (RFP) issued last year, nothing definitive has been decided as yet.

“On the oil refinery, we have not made a decision as to whether we will go with the project as yet. We have had a number of offers in. Frankly speaking, I did not pay too much attention to this, but we have not made a decision at the policymaking level as to whether we go with the project and if so with whom and much less on who will manage it. So, no firm decision has been made,” Dr. Jagdeo explained during a press conference held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).

It was late last year, after the significant interest being shown, the government had issued the RFP for interested parties to design, finance, and construct a 30,000 barrel per day, (b/d) oil refinery to be built in the vicinity of Crab Island in Berbice.

An oil refinery is an industrial processing plant where crude oil is transformed and refined into useable products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, and other fuel oils and products.
There has been growing support for Guyana to have its own refinery; the private sector has been lobbying for a modular refinery for some time now. A modular refinery is a simplified refinery that is less capital- intensive when compared with the traditional full-scale refineries.

The government’s decision to finally consider the creation of a local refinery was based on the goal of building national energy security. President Dr. Irfaan Ali had agreed that the refinery would most likely be a modular one.

Dr. Jagdeo had noted that the government will be working along with the one successful bidder with an agreement to provide land and concessions, and the limited amount of crude.
The refinery will not be limited to selling fuel to the government, and will be allowed to sell locally or export, provided the price is competitive. However, having the local refinery will provide the government with options of guaranteeing local provision of refined products, in the case of global supply plights.