Guyana has started talks with U.S. Exxon Mobil Corp to build a more than 120-mile (190-km) natural gas pipeline from the company’s offshore projects, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat said on Tuesday at the OTC 2022.
The tiny South American nation is trying to build infrastructure as part of an ambitious development plan that has followed over 30 oil and gas findings by an Exxon-led consortium, one of the world’s largest reserve discoveries in the last decade with 11 billion barrels of recoverable resources.
Exxon is likely to participate in the project construction, Bharrat told Reuters on the sidelines of the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston. The construction of a second onshore facility is now planned by 2023.
The pipeline would be used to bring to land up to 140 million cubic feet per day of the associated gas from Exxon’s oil output in the Stabroek block, mostly for generating up to 300 megawatts of electricity.
Power demand in Guyana is forecast to triple in the next five years along with a fast-growing economy. The gas line is expected to have 120 miles offshore and another 10 to 15 miles onshore.
A budget has not been set, but if enough gas is available, the line could also feed fertilizer plants, said Bharrat, who took part in a conference panel with Exxon’s top executive in Guyana.
