On the heels of announcing a US$4.9 million gas station here with a local partner, Trinidad and Tobago owned Unipet says that future plans would see an opportunity for local manufacturers to supply their products for their operations across the region.
“Unipet will invite local manufacturers and suppliers to provide products and services for our operations in Trinidad, Guyana and other parts of the Caribbean as we expand in the region,” Unipet and its local partners said in response to questions from Stabroek News.
The local partners did not want to be named but this newspaper understands that it is an East Bank of Demerara oil and gas downstream company.
Unipet said that its company was formed based on the philosophy of collaboration and creating value for its local partners and community and it will bring the same values here, even as it assured that its local content contributions will be positively incomparable.
“It is based on this principle [that] a group of service station operators formed Unipet (United Independent Petroleum Marketing Company Limited). Since then Unipet has been the market leader with regards to modernising the service station facilities, delivering customer friendly services, introducing new and exciting technologies and working together with commercial customers to resolve supply issues,” the company stated.
“We are excited to learn and grow with the people and immense talent of Guyana. We embrace our social responsibility in the communities we serve and live up to our core values of Quality, Innovation, Safety, One-Team and Ethical Responsibility,” it added.
On Sunday, this newspaper reported that Unipet was partnering with a local company and plans to invest US$4.9 million here in a first-of-its-kind 24-hour gas station which will be equipped with charging docks for electric cars.
The decision to partner with a local company has been welcomed by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), which said the venture is an example of what it has been encouraging, even as it presses for local content legislation here.
Unipet said that Guyana will see myriad benefits as it will “bring innovative technology to alleviate the fuel & energy logistics challenges and inconveniences that may exist in the market, contribute to and facilitate the long term transformation of the industry towards affordable and clean energy, extend our family of investors to include local participation from Guyana to build resilient infrastructure and sustainable industrialization and provide full and productive career opportunities with globally exposed training and development.”
Shared vision
Asked about the reason for its investment here, the company CEO Kirt Hills explained, “This is a significant investment decision for both Unipet and Guyana. The nature of this type of initiative involves many years of preparation, consideration, and negotiations before we get to this point of project development. This investment was motivated by a long-standing shared vision between our local partner, a well-established business in Guyana’s Downstream Energy sector, and Board of Directors. Unipet’s corporate vision is to be one of the most admired energy and convenience services companies, delivering superior value, in the Caribbean region.”
Further, he added, “This vision is not just about looking for regional customers, but suppliers, co-investors and strategic partners across the region. We understand that through broad collaboration, the Caribbean can take care of its own.”
Hills said that the primary focus of the station and bulk fuel loading facility, “is to deliver first class service to motorist and commercial users of fuel.”
The company boasts that over the past 20 years, it has been a significant supplier of fuel to major energy companies in Trinidad and Tobago and therefore are well positioned to offer innovation and value to this segment.
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency notified the public of the proposal by Unipet and said that the project – a multi-purpose fuel facility at Pant ‘P’, Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara, did not require an Environmental Impact Assessment. Unipet told this newspaper that the lands are a private transported property, owned by its local partner.
In its project summary, Unipet said that the 1.112 hectares facility will consist of a Bulk Fuel Storage facility with Gantry loading operations, office buildings and other ancillary infrastructure.
It will have a four-vehicle fueling Gantry, an office building for 50 employees, a gas station and convenience store with automatic merchandising machines and six dispensers which will be serviced by pipes running from the bulk fuel storage.
There will be two Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations on site.
As it pertains to employment, the company gave a breakdown of each phase of its development, from start up to commissioning, informing that at all stages more than 90% of the work force will be from Guyana.
During construction, Unipet anticipates that 70 employees will be needed over the two-year period with 65 being drawn from Guyana and five non-locals. During its startup, it said that 30 of the 36 persons will be Guyanese.
When the entity is fully operational, only two non-locals will remain of the 36-person total work force.
Hills said that during the life of the project, the company intends “to source inputs locally at every opportunity. Projects like this can employ up to 140 persons of which less than 10% will be non-local,” he said.
“We have a strong local partner, and we are excited about working with them, other local businesses and the wider community,” he added.
