Guyana’s gas shift could unlock new, greater onshore investments – Routledge

President of ExxonMobil Guyana Alistair Routledge is optimistic that Guyana’s shift toward gas development will unlock greater opportunities for onshore investment and expand and diversify the country’s economy. Guyana is aggressively advancing its national gas development strategy through the flagship Gas-to-Energy (GtE) Project at Wales and a planned heavy-industrial gas hub in Berbice. Already, more than 17 trillion cubic feet of natural gas have been discovered in the Stabroek Block. Longer-term developments like Longtail and Haimara aim for non-associated gas and condensate production by 2030. Speaking during the Energy Perspectives podcast aired on Monday, Routledge said works are ongoing to start those projects.

“We’re currently working on the Longtail project to bring that to full sanction with the Government. We submitted the documents; we’ve been going through the environmental impact assessment with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). So, what we see with Longtail is not just the progression, the continued growth of production offshore Guyana, but also a little bit of a change of flavour. The projects to date, the first seven of all being very much oil projects, what we’re seeing as we shift to Longtail and hopefully behind that the Haimara project, is a shift to gas development,” he explained. “That project, assuming an approval by the Government this year and FID (Fina Investment Decision) by ourselves and our co-venturers, we anticipate could start up in the 2030 timeframe,” the ExxonMobil Guyana boss added. Currently, ExxonMobil is operating four developments in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana – Liza Phase One, Liza Phase Two, Payara and Yellowtail – with its fifth project, Uaru, on schedule to come onstream later this year and the sixth, Whiptail, slated for start-up in 2027. All of these projects produce what has been described as “black crude”. However, the seventh project, Hammerhead, slated for 2029, and the eighth development, Longtail, expected in 2030, are pegged as major gas development projects. Haimara, the ninth major project in the Stabroek Block, would be another gas development, with a targeted startup around 2031.

According to Routledge, “the gas shift is also something to be remarked upon”.