Preparatory geotechnical and geophysical works have begun for the Wales gas-to-shore project and mariners have been given notice that such activities will be conducted by ExxonMobil’s local affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL).
“This is preparatory works; investigations and getting all the necessary details that are required for a project of that magnitude,” Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill told Stabroek News yesterday.
On Saturday, Guyana’s Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) informed the public, by way of notice in this newspaper, that EEPGL will “commence a geotechnical and geophysical survey along the Demerara River and off the Demerara Coast”.
Expected to be concluded by October 31st of this year, the operation will incorporate the use of three vessels – the MV Wise Fox, MV Risen Star and MV Sealand Chirp.
According to the notice, the first survey is situated approximately 17.56 nautical miles (32.12 kilometers) from the Demerara Coast and covers an area of 83.34 square nautical miles.
The second survey area is 12.7 nautical miles from the mouth to upstream Demerara River, and 7.87 square nautical miles bounded by coordinates listed in the notice.
Estimated to cost around US$900 million, the pipeline aspect of the project will be funded from cost oil while gas derived will be sold to a third party and only the remainder will come to Guyana. However, it is still unclear at what cost as ExxonMobil’s Production Manager Mike Ryan on Friday said that that aspect was still be worked out.
Providing a project overview at a virtual public scoping meeting held last Friday, EEPGL representative Erik Demicco had disclosed that the purpose of the project is to transport natural gas from offshore Guyana to its shores and “extract natural gas liquid for sale to third parties, and treat the remaining dry gas for use as a fuel source for a power plant.”
Demicco also disclosed that the onshore route of the 27-kilometers-long, 12-inch diameter underground natural gas pipeline was selected by the Government.
While he also provided other technical details about the project, the two disclosures caught the attention of the some 80 to 100 attendees, who throughout the two-hour-long session kept repeating that the meeting was “deeply flawed.”
The pipeline is expected to transport up to approximately 50 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of dry gas to the NGL Plant while the maximum flow of the pipeline is approximately 120 MMSCFD. The NGL plant onshore will remove propane, butane and pentane+ liquids with the ability to be sold and treat remaining gas to specifications required by the power plant, including dehydration and pressure letdown.
According to the project summary, some 20 sites were evaluated based on a number of criteria, including topography and elevation, soil conditions, biodiversity, socioeconomic factors, site access, and pipeline routing. It adds that of the sites assessed, the Wales area, approximately 23 km upriver on the west bank of the Demerara River on abandoned sugarcane fields, was determined to be the most favourable location “based on constructability, environmental, socioeconomic, and biodiversity perspectives.”
