…say pipeline sits idle while costing Guyanese billions
By Rehanna Ramsay
(Kaieteur News) – The announcement by ExxonMobil Guyana that it will be undertaking maintenance on the gas pipeline offshore of Crane should be a source for concern.
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) politician, Sharma Solomon has noted the billions of dollars that are being wasted as the oil giant steps in to maintain the infrastructure that is yet to yield benefits for the citizens.
ExxonMobil Guyana announced on Thursday that it is set to begin maintenance work on an offshore pipeline near Crane, West Coast Demerara, on October 14, with the activities expected to continue until approximately December 1.
According to Exxon, the maintenance is intended to address a finding identified during inspection of a near-shore section of the pipeline earlier this year and is part of measures to ensure the safety, integrity and reliability of the infrastructure.
The pipeline, which is a major piece of a US- multibillion dollar national energy project, was completed nearly two years ago. This is while the actual Gas-to-Energy facility at Wales has been delayed.
APNU politician, Sharma Solomon
To this end, Sharma explained pointed to expense of having the pipeline has now been sitting there, filled with nitrogen, waiting for the plant at Wales.
“The plant has been delayed. The costs have continued to rise and now, before the system has even delivered its first commercial benefit to the people of Guyana, ExxonMobil is telling us that another round of maintenance will have to be carried out from October into December because an anomaly was identified during inspection,” the opposition Member of Parliament stated
He continued “Nobody should object to proper inspection or maintenance of critical infrastructure. That is not the issue. The issue is the quality of the planning behind the entire project. When you are spending billions of dollars of Guyanese money, you do not build one major component years ahead of another and then leave that infrastructure sitting idle, accumulating costs, while the rest of the project struggles to come together.”
According to Sharma, this represents the epitome of poor planning by the government.
He noted that in the meantime, the Government is yet to deliver on a promise of a 50 percent reduction on citizens’ electricity bills. Additionally, Sharma questions how much it will cost to maintain the pipeline as it sits idly.
“The government chose Wales as the location for this project. It therefore has an obligation to explain the technical, logistical and economic basis for that decision, because what Guyanese have witnessed is a project surrounded by delays, rising costs, technical challenges and an ever-moving completion date,” he said adding that government cannot make the decision, announce the project, promise cheaper electricity and then, every time another problem emerges, point somewhere else and say that somebody else is responsible.”
“The government must also answer when the project is delayed, when costs increase and when the promised benefits remain out of reach and to be honest about what was promised…. Guyanese were told that Gas-to-Energy would transform the electricity sector. We were told it would significantly reduce the cost of electricity. We were told it would improve reliability and competitiveness,” Solomon stressed.
He noted that as billions are being spent while the project continues to encounter delays and additional costs, the ordinary man is feeling the consequences.
“That is not what development is supposed to look like. Development cannot be the number of projects announced. Development is whether the project is properly planned, properly executed, delivered on time, delivered within a reasonable cost and whether the ordinary citizen actually feels the benefit. Guyanese deserve to know where their money is going, why the project has taken this long, why costs continue to move upward and who is ultimately accountable for the decisions that brought us here,” the MP stated
Last week, former finance minister, Winston Jordan questioned whether Guyana’s Gas-to-Energy project will deliver the additional electricity generation being promised by the end of this year, while criticising the government for failing to provide the public with sufficient information about the project.
Former Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan
Jordan said the project is already significantly behind schedule, pointing to the pipeline which, according to him, has been sitting in Guyana for close to two years without being put into productive use.
He said the lack of transparency surrounding the project makes it difficult for the public to properly assess its progress or determine when the country can realistically expect the cheaper electricity that the project is intended to provide.
“I cannot give up a true answer because the government is not transparent with the population. We don’t have enough information in the public domain to determine what is going on with that project,” Jordan said.
He noted that by the end of this year, the project would be approximately two years overdue.
“We have a pipeline in there that has been there and languishing now for two years,” he said, adding that he understood the pipeline was completed in 2024.
Jordan also raised concerns over reports that the pipeline may have developed leaks and could require servicing, which he said would mean additional expenditure on infrastructure that is already not being used.
“We’re hearing that there are leaks that have developed, that it has to be serviced, so a lot of money is being [spent] on a pipeline that is useless to us at the moment,” he said.
He was also skeptical about claims that additional generating capacity would be available by the end of this year, saying that based on information from engineers, he was not convinced the project could be brought on stream within that timeframe.
Jordan said he understood that claims were being made about additional megawatts becoming available by year-end, but questioned whether the configuration of the equipment and plant would allow the system to be brought online in the manner being suggested.
He stressed, however, that the lack of publicly available information makes it difficult to independently determine the project’s actual status.
“We are not privy to any information of any substance and we always have to take the little that is dripping out from them,” he said.
Despite his concerns, Jordan said bringing the project into operation would ultimately be beneficial to Guyana, particularly because cheap electricity is critical to the country’s economic development and manufacturing ambitions.
“As I said, if we get it eventually, it will be a plus,” he said.
Jordan said the country’s current situation on the electricity front is “not very, very, very encouraging,” underscoring the importance of delivering a reliable and cheaper source of power.
Source: Kaieteur News
