Sketchy details on 1-yr-old company contracted to monetise Guyana’s gas

Aug 25, 2024 News

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…operates from guest house with only two registered employees

Kaieteur News – The former Vice President of ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL), Jesus Bronchalo, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fulcrum LNG is one of the company’s two registered employees.

Research conducted by Kaieteur News revealed that Bronchalo, who left Exxon in February 2023, is not only CEO of Fulcrum LNG, but he also, wears several other professional caps at the business he registered in July 2023.

According to company records, seen by this publication, Bronchalo is also Secretary, Treasurer, Director and President of the company that has been contracted by the Government of Guyana (GoG). From all indications, he has only hired one employee. Kaieteur News discovered that Ivor Ellul has been hired as Technical Director at Fulcrum LNG. He was appointed in July 2023 and previously worked at Schlumberger GeoQuest and CiSK Ventures, Ltd, among others. Ellul held senior positions, including Managing Director, Chairman, CEO and President among others in his career.

The limited experience of the company has raised serious questions about its capacity to fulfill its contracted obligations. Bronchalo’s company was selected as “the most responsive compliant bidder” among 16 others who tendered to develop the non-associated gas in the Stabroek Block, operated by Exxon.

A deeper dive into the company’s records also led Kaieteur News to the business address of Fulcrum LNG. The energy company operates from what appears to be a two-storey guest house located at 937 TAHOE Boulevard, Incline Village, Nevada, USA. Fulcrum LNG, according to company records, operates from Suite 130B.

The CEO’s link to American oil super major ExxonMobil has sparked concerns among Guyanese, but the government has dismissed the possibility of a conflict of interest.

In fact, Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo during his Thursday press conference told reporters that evaluators were well aware of Bronchalo’s 19 years of service at Exxon. The VP even joked that this may have positioned his company above the bidders.

Jagdeo said, “He had left Exxon but if anything, maybe the evaluators thought that he had the data on the gas. I don’t know if they did that, so he would have known, because Exxon does not want to go in that direction or did not want to go in that direction of monetising the gas in the early period, they said they needed the gas to be re-injected. We have a different view.”

He added, “On the face of it, I thought it was the best proposal that the evaluators came up with and that’s what we’re looking for, so there is nothing I found wrong with the evaluation of the bids and I don’t see anything that has come out in any major way that’s wrong, except for that oh, he worked at one time with Exxon.”

When asked to comment on the fact that Fulcrum LNG has no known experience and has only been registered for one year now, the VP continued to defend the contract award, insisting that the Founder has years of experience in the field through his former employment with Exxon. “But he was there with Exxon a long time, but he has been a project developer for a long time,” Jagdeo pointed out.

Five months after tendering his resignation at ExxonMobil as Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for the Guyana operations, Bronchalo launched Fulcrum LNG, boasting “experience and expertise across all aspects of the oil and gas value chain, including low-carbon solutions.”

Importantly, the company said it partners with some of the industry’s leading global engineering, technology, and finance firms, as well as global LNG buyers, to deploy the most advanced technologies and sustainable solutions that will generate maximum value for its clients.

There were no mentions of completed projects by Fulcrum on its website.

Kaieteur News understands that the company will be responsible for the design, financing, construction, and operation of gas infrastructure, inclusive of the necessary pipelines required to connect the gas infrastructure crucial for monetizing upstream gas.

Further, as part of the process, the company will have exclusivity to negotiate with the government for its entitlement of gas to ensure the viability of the project and the overall value chain. Notably, the project will be strictly financed and owned 100% by Fulcrum LNG.

This newspaper reached out to Fulcrum LNG for a comment but the company did not respond.

In a statement following the contract award, the company explained that the main feature of Fulcrum LNG’s solution will involve the development of state-of-the-art gas processing and modular, scalable facilities to produce Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and NGLS/LPGs for Guyana as well as regional and global markets. Fulcrum LNG said it has partnered with some of the industry’s leading global firms, leveraging advanced technology and industry expertise to deploy the most robust, efficient, and sustainable infrastructure solutions.

“We are honored to be selected to undertake this strategic energy infrastructure project,” said Jesus Bronchalo.

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• address, employees, Fulcrum LNG, gas, monetize

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