With Guyana’s natural gas reserves pegged at around 16 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Chamber, Dr. Dax Driver believes that converting it to electricity is the “most logical” avenue at this stage.
His comments were made on the radio show JUMPSTART, broadcast in Georgetown, Guyana, on Jan. 9.
“Given the relatively small volumes currently in Guyana, natural gas to electricity makes much more sense,” he said. Like Guyana, Dr. Driver explained that TT started out producing oil but then adjusted its energy sector to fit natural gas production.
This, he added, led to the country having one of the lowest costs of electricity in the Caribbean. Guyana is on the opposite end. And its government is headed in this direction with the Gas-to-Energy project slated for start-up in 2024.
The Russia-Ukraine war has been forcing Europe to look elsewhere for alternate sources of energy. German refiners have turned to crudes from Canada, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Cameroon and Libya in recent months as supplies of piped medium sour Russian oil dwindle, according to vessel analytics provider Kpler. In addition to Guyana, S&P Global Platts said in a recent report that the data shows rare crude imports have also been sourced from Italy, Equatorial Guinea and Brazil.
The People’s Perspective: Opinions on Guyana’s landmark Gas-to-Energy project | OilNOW
As the country racks up more gas finds, the head of the TT Energy Chamber said Guyana can consider venturing out into Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) export and petrochemicals.
Arthur Deakin, Director of Americas Market Intelligence’s energy practice, has said Guyana could emerge as a major LNG exporter in coming years as massive hydrocarbon discoveries continue to mount off the country’s coast.
“In Guyana, where the total estimated recoverable resources have surpassed 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent, LNG exports could reach nearly 5 MTPA (million tons per annum). This volume alone could replace 4% of all Russian gas that went to Europe in 2021,” Deakin said.
The Gas-to-Energy project is set to utilise associated gas from the Liza field in the Stabroek Block, with a natural gas liquids (NGL) power plant facility being constructed at Wales, West Bank Demerara. With it, comes a slew of benefits for Guyana, chief among which is a 50% slash in the cost of energy for consumers.
Guyana currently generates its power mainly from heavy fuel oil imports. It has one of the highest costs for electricity in the Caribbean and Latin America – power that is unreliable. But this could soon change.
And Guyanese are already excited at the prospect of cheaper electricity. Check out their views on the new ‘Wuh Ayo Think Bout Awe Aile’ show.