The delay in the handing over of the US$300 million artificial island shore base at Vreed-en-Hoop will not affect ExxonMobil’s operations as the company has already begun moving its equipment to the site, Country Manager Alistair Routledge yesterday said.
The island is made of material reclaimed from the Demerara River and required engineering that would have been novel in this part of the world. It was to have been ready by the end of last year.
Much of the equipment, Routledge disclosed, was brought from Trinidad and Tobago to Georgetown as ExxonMobil scales down much of its operations in the twin-island republic, as this country’s capacity increases.
“`We are working with the developers with NRG [NRG Holdings] and Jan De Nul on the finalization of the base. We started moving some of the equipment onto the site, that we needed to support the [Stabroek Block] project, particularly Yellowtail [Development]. We are a little bit behind schedule but that is not a problem. We have some work we can execute from the GYSBI shorebase [Guyana Shorebase Inc] in the meantime, until the official base is finished,” Routledge yesterday told a press conference the company held at its Duke Street, Kingston, office.
Asked if ExxonMobil was given reasons for the delay, he said that they had but he believes that since it is a Vreed-en-Hoop Shore Base Inc (VEHSI’s) development that they should be the ones to share that information.
“We work with them very closely on the project; on completion. So we are working with them. I just think it’s more appropriate that they talk about their project. We are like a tenant, if you like, in that project. We do have a long term lease but ultimately though, they are the developers. I think it is more appropriate that they tell you what happened,” he stated.
“Of course! Yes,” the ExxonMobil Country Manager responded when asked if he was told of the reason.
“We have regular meetings with them so we are fully informed about what is happening. I think that is important that whatever transactional relationship you have that the parties are transparent, because if one side have a problem, how do we help mitigate those issues and that is what we have been able to do. We have a very open working relationship with the VEHSI shareholders. I think it is more appropriate they tell you because it is their project.”
The VEHSI facility on the West Coast of Demerara which encompasses this country’s first man-made island has suffered work delays. Stabroek News was told that the project, “Is coming in late, in terms of handing over, but this would not affect anything with Exxon and there is no cause for alarm.”
The first phase of the project was expected to be completed by December last year but sources say that there will now be a two-month delay in that aspect, given the technicalities of the work programme and other factors relating to construction.
This newspaper reached out to the company for insight into engineering and other works done here, including an overall update of the project but was told, “There will no comment from the company at this time.”
Stabroek News was told by sources that some foundation pipes were flooded by water and this would necessitate a delay of months in terms of readiness. Sheet piles had also opened up causing sand to pour out of several areas. This required remedial work which will be added to the US$300m price tag.
In its first phase, the project is expected to add more than 44 acres to Guyana’s coastline. Phase one of the project is meant to be the special purpose vehicle to serve as a SURF (Subsea, Umbilicals, Riser, and Flow lines) Shorebase for projects of ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited.
Some 10 acres were to be made operational by December 2023, with additional acreages delivered by the second quarter of this year. It could mean that this year’s timeline will also suffer setbacks. The long-term vision of the project will see the full Port of Vreed-en-Hoop completed with as much as 800 acres of port facilities.
The last update from the company was in early November of last year when VEHSI had the docking and offloading of the first commercial vessel at its man-made island facility.
The MV Virtuous Striker became the first commercial vessel to dock at the newly constructed facility and at the same time was registered as the longest vessel, at over 190 meters, to ever enter the Demerara River Channel. Additionally, with a cargo of over 26,900 metric tonnes it was also one of the largest payloads to ever be offloaded, according to the company.
The company did not say if the cargo was related to the infrastructural works that it was undertaking at the facility. However, the docking and offloading of the vessel marked a major milestone for the 44-acre facility which will serve primarily as a shore base for ExxonMobil projects, the company had stated.
Routledge yesterday pointed out that as Guyana builds capacity, more of the work is being done locally and as an example referred to the cleaning of storage tanks usually done in Trinidad, which last year saw 70 per cent of those works done here. This was made possible, he explained, because GYSBI had increased its berthing capacity.
“We have moved substantially everything that we can move out of Trinidad. So what remains being executed in Trinidad are much larger pieces of equipment that are going to be installed offshore, which the draft in the Demerara [River] is not deep enough for that to come in [to a shorebase],” he added.
“That is part of why we have been working on the VEHSI project was to give us facilities that have a higher load capacity on the East side and a deeper draft . At the moment pretty much everything that we could bring from Guyana to Trinidad we did,” he informed.
