Guyana gas projects pique Chinese interest
Five Chinese state-owned contractors are among 12 that have been pre-qualified to bid for a project to develop a natural gas-fired power plant and NGLs facility in Guyana.
Associated gas shipped by pipeline from the deepwater Stabroek block operated by ExxonMobil would supply the 300MW power station and a 60mn cf/d (1.7mn m³/d) liquids facility whose capacity would be doubled in a second phase.
The pre-qualified Chinese participants include China Machinery Engineering, Power China International, Sepco, China Energy and Wison Offshore and Marine, Guyana's natural resources ministry said today.
The others are US contractors Amerapex, CH4 and Lindsayca, Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas, Brazil's Construtora Queiroz Galvao and Trinidad and Tobago's state-owned gas company NGC and engineering firm Apan Energy.
The government is projecting construction to start in the third quarter of 2022, with commissioning in fourth quarter 2024. It has not indicated estimated investment or a schedule for naming a preferred bidder.
The power plant will supply state-owned power utility GPL and replace its current 120MW heavy oil and diesel-fired generating units.
The gas plans are central to the government's 500MW target for installed generating capacity by 2026, including intermittent renewable projects that would require thermoelectric back-up.
The NGLs plant should be capable of producing propane and butane, with five days of storage capacity plus truck or river-loading facilities, the ministry said.
The government and ExxonMobil are developing a $900mn 12-inch gas pipeline that will run 225km (140mi) from the Liza-1 and Liza-2 projects on Stabroek.
The 25-year midstream project would also supply bauxite and gold mines with gas delivered by cryogenic tankers, replacing diesel.
ExxonMobil has a 45pc stake in Stabroek where current oil output of around 120,000 b/d is supposed to ramp up to 800,000 b/d by 2026. Its partners are US independent Hess with a 30pc interest and Chinese state-owned CNOOC unit Nexen with 25pc.
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