Second gas project “must happen” in next term – President Ali

Jan 28, 2025 News

---

Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali has signaled his party’s intention to pursue a second gas-to-energy project should it be elected for a second term this year.

The president made this disclosure on Saturday during his address at the commissioning ceremony for the US$300M Vreed-en-Hoop Shore Base Inc. (VESHI).

“The second gas project in Berbice and the deep-water port in the next term, it’s not whether it will happen, it must happen,” President Ali said.

He was defending his government’s move to borrow US$500 million from the US EXIM Bank to help fund the over US$2billion Wales Gas-to-Energy (GtE) project when he revealed plans for a second “gas project in Berbice, Region Six.

He argued that money borrowed for the investment is not a recurrent expenditure or one that is going to the public servants’ wage bill but one that will improve the country’s competitiveness.

According to President Ali, the project, which is expected to produce some 300 – megawatt (MW) of power will help reduce the cost of production giving Guyana the edge on the export market.

Ali said Guyana has to create opportunities for itself before announcing pans of building a second gas project and a deep-water port at Berbice.

“…These are key investment for the structural transformation for the development of our country,” the Head of State said before adding, “these are the key investments for the value creation that is necessary for value creation, first of all to generate build and keep sustainable jobs.”

Meanwhile, as the government talks-up plans for a second gas project, it is yet to make public a market or financial feasibility study for the first one.

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo along with ministers equally responsible for the sector have failed to adequately answer questions relating to the feasibility study for the project.

The Vice President has repeatedly said that the project is viable noting that the numbers are clear and that a feasibility study is too technical for the public to understand.

In a bid to brush off the constant requests for the studies which he claimed were conducted by the United States Export Import (US EXIM) Bank for the controversial gas-to-energy project, Jagdeo directed citizens to ask the financial institution for copies of these documents.

In an official correspondence to a group of citizens who subsequently filed a request, the US EXIM Bank explained on January 22, 2025 that it never conducted a feasibility study for the Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project.

Deputy Chief Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer, Lance Matthews, in his response to the citizens’ said, “We conducted a comprehensive search of the files within the Office of Board Authorized Finance, Engineering and Environment Division for records that would be responsive to your request. This is the component within EXIM in which responsive records could reasonably be expected to be found. Please be advised we were unable to locate or identify any responsive records, as EXIM did not conduct a feasibility study.”

However, on Thursday at his last press conference, Jagdeo said that he noted the response from the Bank on social media. He then told reporters that his reference to a feasibility study done by the bank was in fact a due diligence report conducted by a consultant group, Sargent and Lundy on behalf of the EXIM Bank.

“Now I have here a due diligence report EXIM Bank did, which looks at technical feasibility and financial feasibility and it was done by a company called Sargent and Lundy for EXIM Bank itself,” said Jagdeo.

According to Jagdeo, the Consultant did a 197-page due diligence report that is in the hands of government, but this remains the property of the US EXIM Bank since the institution financed the study.

No more questions!

During the question-and-answer segment, Kaieteur News attempted to question the VP on the GTE project when the former President became annoyed and said, “I don’t remember anything about the Gas-to-Energy and Kaieteur News.”

This newspaper even volunteered to refresh his memory but he said, “Please don’t. If it’s on Gas-to-Energy, I’ve dealt enough with that. It’s done. I’m not going anymore into this big charade. You write what you have to write. The stupidness that Kaieteur News writes and we (are) working on completing the project for the people of this country.”

As such, he urged the reporter, “Move on to the next question! No Gas-to-Energy anymore.” He explained that another reporter “tested his patience” so “no more on that, move on!”

The government has repeatedly marketed the gas-to-energy project as the gateway to cheaper electricity and an end to the country’s blackout crisis. Notwithstanding, the demand for power has been rapidly increasing over the years. The increasing demand has pushed the government to rent power from two powerships costing the country hundreds of millions of United States dollars.

---

• Conference, documents, Gas-to-Energy project, Jagdeo, US-EXIM bank, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, Vreed-en-Hoop

---