Guyana could earn between $70 to $100 million each year from the sale of cooking gas and other products produced at Wales on the West Bank of Demerara (WBD), where the gas-to-energy project will be developed soon, Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has said.
“…if you look at the cooking gas and the other natural gas liquids (NGL) from drying the (natural) gas, we will be able to sell that and get the money.
“We anticipate maybe $70 to 100 million a year from selling it at current prices,” the Vice President said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Those revenues, the Vice President explained, will be collected by the government. It is expected to add to the tangible benefits from the Wales gas-to-energy project.
And the other types of gas produced may be used in other industries, according to Dr. Jagdeo.
For context, the government proposes to bring in natural gas produced in offshore oilfields for use at the NGL and power plants that will be built at Wales. The government is likely to fund the two plants while ExxonMobil’s local affiliate should fund the pipeline.
The NGL plant is expected to process the natural gas produced offshore to remove other substances (including propane, butane and pentane liquids) for sale to third-party users. At this plant, other products such as cooking gas may be produced.
The remaining dry gas would be treated for use as fuel to support the third-party power plant that should produce some 300 megawatts of electricity- double Guyana’s current production.
Vice President Jagdeo reminded that the project, overall, is expected to slash the cost of energy and spur manufacturing and industrialisation in Guyana.
In fact, he said that electricity can be generated for about five to six cents per kilowatt-hour (KW/h), compared to the current 30 cents cost.
“This project is going to be a great project for the country.
“It will help us to stabilise power, supply more power, cheaper gas, supply cooking gas and create the basis for the industrialisation for that whole west coast,” the Vice President underscored.
Estimates for the pipeline are pegged at about US$1 billion, but the actual costs for the pipeline and the plants will soon be known as the projects will go out to tender.
Jagdeo also said the gas transported from offshore will be free. As such, the government will only be paying the costs associated with the pipeline and plants.
