Just in the first quarter of this year, two additional drill ships – Noble Sam Croft and Stena DrillMAX – have been added to the ExxonMobil fleet, bringing the total to six operating offshore Guyana. These vessels along with the Liza Destiny FPSO require significant supplies and support services which is seeing demand increase for shore base facilities.
The largest such facility – Guyana Shore Base Inc. (GYSBI) – is the primary location that is being used to service the growing operations offshore the South American country and the increasing demand is pushing GYSBI to extend and expand its operations.
“They are asking for an extension of the current shore base going southwards,” Deodat Indar, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works told OilNOW on Wednesday following a field visit to the facility. He said these plans were put on hold under the previous government since the location would have come into conflict with where a bridge that was to be built across the Demerara River was intended to be aligned. “The new alignment for the Harbour Bridge is at La Grange to Nandy Park,” Indar said, pointing out that this would now allow for GYSBI to extend their pier base southwards.
These plans are in addition to the construction of two additional berths currently underway that will allow for heavy lifting services to be executed at the facility.
Analysts have said the growing activity offshore Guyana is likely to hit peak in the latter part of this decade and will require large shore base support services which is something the country will have to begin considering. Already, six FPSOs are expected to be in operation by 2026 with additional floaters planned by the end of the decade.
“That is going to multiply significantly…so Guyana has to give thought now to the shore base infrastructure that supports that expanding industry because the industry is going to keep expanding in Guyana until it reaches its peak which would be sometime in the late part of this decade,” former Trinidad and Tobago Minister of Energy and Energy Affairs, Kevin Ramnarine has pointed out.
Already, ExxonMobil Guyana is planning to put in place an enabling agreement for project shore base facilities, equipment, and services to support future projects in the new oil producing country. The energy company is looking to identify contractors who can provide a fully functional, fit for purpose shore base located in Guyana to support the needs of future projects, starting in 2023.
