NCB loans US$10M to Guyana Shorebase

Oct 08 2022

NCB Merchant Bank (T&T) Ltd, a subsidiary of the Jamaica-based NCB Capital Markets Group, signed an agreement for the disbursement of a syndicated term loan of US$10 million with Guyana Shorebase Inc (GYSBI), a Guyanese majority-owned company that provides a multi-use facility offering support and logistical services to satisfy the highly specialised needs of Guyana’s oil and gas industry.

This loan will allow GYSBI to expand its capacity in the delivery of secure open and covered storage, berthing for supply vessels, operational personnel, and loading/unloading logistics support.

GYSBI offers services ranging from waste management, chemical storage, warehousing, construction, supply chain management, expatriate management, and customs and logistics services. The company currently has four berths, 30 acres of developed land at its main port and owns and manages 140 acres of industrial estate.

Fourteen international oil companies are currently engaged in petroleum operations onshore and offshore in Guyana’s territorial waters. Guyana’s estimated reserves exceeds 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) and 13.2 trillion cubic feet of associated gas in 40 discoveries. With an estimate of 750,000 barrels of oil per day in the next two years and potential revenues of US$50 to US$200 billion by 2050, the industry is ramping up for the long haul.

NCB Merchant Bank T&T has been providing financing in Guyana since 2015. It was part of a wider NCB syndicate out of Jamaica that extended a US$20M loan to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO), and in 2020 NCB arranged financing for Nabi/KCL Oilfield Construction Services JV to aid in their construction of a corporate campus in Ogle, Guyana for a prominent energy company.

“We were able to provide financing that is flexible, forward thinking, and facilitative of GYSBI’s business model. By taking the time to understand Guyana Shore Base, we were able to create a custom-tailored financial solution,” Marli Creese, head of corporate and investment banking at NCB Merchant Bank (T&T) Ltd said.

GYSBI general manager Robert Albiez also noted the bridging loan agreement was a precursor to a more significant multimillion-dollar deal involving NCB Merchant Bank and three other Guyana banks to provide capital for projects that will further build and enhance GYSBI’s capacity to support Exxon Mobil’s offshore drilling campaign.

The NCB Financial Group has assets of US$12 billion, a capital base of US$ 1 billion and is publicly traded on the Jamaica and T&T stock exchanges

Mutual Agreements for spill safety

Oct 06, 2022

Iman Hill, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP). says mutual agreements on safety must be crucial for the administrators of Guyana and Suriname in view of geographical proximity and their acceleration of offshore oil exploration and production operations,.

The industry body which she represents brings together over 2000 experts from over 80 member organisations, including 25 National Oil Companies, to ensure safe, efficient and sustainable energy supply, and to enable a low carbon future. It speaks on behalf of the industry to governments and regulators and advocates for the role oil and gas can play in the energy transition. It makes this case to global and regional bodies such as the United Nations and the World Bank.

At the Guyana Basins Summit, Hill said mutual agreement for safety is even more important given Suriname’s focus on offshore oil and the fact that any oil spill will directly affect Guyana – the Land of many waters. Hill said this reinforces the importance of investing in strong partnerships and regional collaboration on safety.

IOGP’s Safety Committee, which gathers annual safety performance data to lead and facilitate industry-wide activities, and the Wells Expert Committee, which assesses, shares and monitors industry response to global well control incidents and learning, are some ways that the Association can facilitate collaboration on this crucial topic.

Hill said regional co-operation is not only critical for Guyana and Suriname but also Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago. The Petroleum Engineer said developing oil and gas industries that enable economic growth but do so in a sustainable way is a challenge. Hill is a strong believer on the importance of collaboration, both across the region and globally. In the region, Hill said each country has its own strategies for gas, as it does for emissions and carbon capture, use, and storage. The approach is based on local level policy. Hill said there are benefits for a block of energy countries to shape their economic development collectively.

Despite Guyana and Suriname being neighbouring countries, Hill said there are no cross-border agreements in place. To build resilient ecosystems of any kind, collaboration via such means is an absolute must. As Guyana ramps up the development of hydrocarbons, Hill would urge authorities to do so mindful of the need to produce the cleanest barrels.

“We must do everything we can to mitigate emissions – clamping down on methane, reducing flaring, and investing in all the technologies that allow hydrocarbons to play a role in a world that’s charting its path towards net zero. We should strive to create a new normal where increasingly, we only explore and produce new oil and gas where we’ve assessed every opportunity to attach an integrated carbon solution to it – whether that’s CCS, hydrogen or some other relevant option.”

Hill said this will mean considering decarbonisation as a normal and must have part of the investment decision. While this may seem a tall order, Hill said believes it is possible with the will of all stakeholders.

“I say this because I believe it is key to our industry fulfilling its role in the energy system of tomorrow. In this industry, we have an obligation to bring our considerable know-how, skills, innovation, technology, and investment power to create the sustainable world that we want to see for our children and their children. And if everyone pulls together, if we all play our part – including oil and gas producers then I believe we can find the right path and you will have a successful industry.”

Black Gold

By Patrick FORT 10/16/22

Discoveries of oil reserves must be tapped to improve living conditions in Suriname and Guyana, among the poorest in South America. Emerging as potential oil powers while the world seeks to wean itself off fossil fuels, neighbours Guyana and Suriname say they have to cash in while they can.

The former Dutch colonies are among the world’s most tree-covered countries, hosts to the so-called forest “lungs” that sequester massive amounts of carbon dioxide. Their economies and populations small, the countries have traditionally emitted little CO2 or other greenhouse gasses from fossil fuel use. Suriname is one of only three carbon-negative countries in the world and Guyana claims carbon neutrality. This could change with the recent discovery of rich offshore oil deposits in the petroliferous Guyana-Suriname Basin.

Guyana, a country of 800,000 people, holds proven reserves of at least 11 billion barrels of oil, the petrostate with the highest reserves per capita in the world — which consumes 99.4 million barrels of oil per day. Early assessments suggest the reserves of Suriname, a country of 600,000 people, may not be far behind.

“It will be hard to remain carbon neutral as a country (involved in the) petroleum sector,” economist Steven Debipersad of the Anton de Kom University in capital Paramaribo, told AFP.

The projected $10 billion Suriname stands to make in the next 10 to 20 years, will likely bring economic growth at the cost of the environment.

GDP today is about $3 billion. Their presidents insist Guyana and Suriname cannot be expected to turn their backs on a chance to fill their countries’ coffers and raise the quality of life for their people. Vast swathes of their populations lack electricity, clean water or access to adequate health services. In a Paramaribo ghetto named Texas, dirty sewer water flows among dilapidated wooden homes. The community needs water pipes, cables, new roads without potholes, schools, better houses, playgrounds…

and hoped the government would spend the oil money “wisely,” a sentiment echoed in a poor neighbourhood of the capital Georgetown.

“Hopefully they do something so that… people (who) live on the street can do better,”

Both presidents vowed to make judicious use of windfall petroleum profits, though some are worried that will undercut the sovereign wealth funds guarding some money for future generations. President Chan Santokhi alluding to Venezuela and other resource-rich countries unable to turn oil wealth into social and economic progress, observed:

“We are quite aware of the oil curse. We… should also get the opportunity to benefit from the production of oil and gas and its income” to address a biting economic crisis “and help our people to have better lives.”

President Mohamed Irfaan Ali wants to use the oil income to “create wealth for now, and future generations.”

Both speak of using the money to diversify their economies with investments in agriculture, tourism, housing, education and health care.

Eventually, “the oil and gas will be gone, but the food security should be guaranteed,” said Santokhi.

Oil extraction and refining are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Though they have historically emitted little, Suriname and Guyana are both deeply affected by global warming — in the crosshairs of worsening tropical storms and of flooding from rising sea levels. Presidents Santokhi and Ali believe they can maintain their countries’ carbon balances by using oil money to protect their forests and invest in green energy. Defending the forests that cover about 87 percent of Guyana and 93 percent of Suriname is economically sage: both countries can sell carbon credits to polluters who need to offset emissions. For Guyana, carbon credits are worth about $190 million per year, said Irfaan Ali.

Monique Pool, director of the Green Heritage Fund of Suriname, is not convinced by the two-pronged approach.

“Carbon credit will give us more money faster than oil and gas and for longer because it will be sustainable.”

Christopher Ram agreed the oil should be left in the ground, expressing fear of exploitation by ruthless companies in the absence of “good governance.”

“I would go to the international community and say: ‘We are a small country, we’ve always been good to the environment, we want to stay that way… help us get the benefits we would have got with oil’.”

But 53-year-old Cynthia Neel, who sent her daughter from Suriname to the Netherlands at the age of six for education and a better life, is hopeful of positive change.

“I hope that with the oil the children will no longer have to leave.”

Guyana claims to already be carbon neutral, due to its small population and economy coupled with lush forests, such as in Kaieteur National Park.

Recent surveys have shown that oil fields off the coast of Suriname and Guyana could contain some of the highest per capita reserves in the world. Local economists say the projected $10 billion Suriname stands to make will likely bring economic growth at the cost of the local environment and global emissions goals. Though they have historically emitted little, Suriname and Guyana are both deeply affected by worsening tropical storms and flooding from rising sea levels .

 

Transocean wins contract with TotalEnergies in Suriname

Semi-submersible rig Development Driller III is expected to be used in Block 58

17 October 2022
By Fabio Palmigiani in Rio de Janeiro

Transocean has secured a new rig charter, elevating the US drilling contractor’s total backlog order to about $7.3 billion.

In its quarterly fleet status report, Transocean said the semi-submersible rig Development Driller III has been awarded a one-well contract in Suriname by TotalEnergies.

The French supermajor has two rigs currently operating offshore Suriname in Block 58 and is now expected to add a third unit in January 2023.

El Dorado Offshore

14 Oct 2022

RAMPS Logistics, which is currently providing support services to international operations involved in Guyana’s oil recovery exercise is crediting its local subsidiary, El Dorado Offshore (EDO), with playing an integral role in the process through the contribution which El Dorado has made to providing more than four hundred Guyanese workers with skills that are important to the overall execution of the oil recovery process.

Information made available to the Stabroek Business recently by RAMPS’ Georgetown administrative operations, state that the 2017 launch of El Dorado Offshore, “one of the biggest recruitment companies in the Caribbean’s energy sector,” saw the new entity become engaged in embracing the challenge of “finding persons to fill critical offshore positions in the energy sector” by investing in ensuring that Guyanese achieve the requisite training to acquire the skills and certification that would properly position them to fill key positions.

And according to RAMPS Logistics, the company’s initiative and the response of its subsidiary have paid dividends for Guyana’s oil and gas sector on account of the training which Guyanese have received in disciplines that are critical to the development of the local industry.

RAMPS says in its statement that the work of El Dorado Offshore has resulted in Guyanese being appointed to various key positions in the country’s wider oil and gas recovery operations including those of Health and Safety Officers, General Managers, Senior Engineers and Head Cooks “among many other top positions on and offshore.”

In alluding to what Trinidad and Tobago-owned RAMPS describes as “the strategic direction that it had taken in pursuit of its local operations,” the company says, as part of the information made available to the Stabroek Business, that that direction “had been informed by the conviction that “Guyanese should be the first to benefit from the opportunities that derived from the country’s oil and gas sector. “We felt that it was important that we go the extra mile to provide the training,” head of EDO Guyana, Sherry Ferrell is quoted as saying.

RAMPS noted that at the outset, the training required by Guyanese to undertake offshore positions required EDO’s collaboration with others of its clients at other locations including Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, and Houston, Texas.

The information made available by RAMPS also deals with aspects of RAMPS’ offshore training through “Job Camps” held at Hopetown, Anna Regina, Kamarang, Port Mourant, and Mabaruma, through which it said, attendees secured “employment opportunities.”

RAMPS says that El Dorado Offshore has several initiatives planned for Guyana in 2023 including “workshops and job camps” designed to ensure that “Guyanese are well positioned to benefit from their oil resource.” The RAMPS statement says that a team “will be heading back into the hinterland region to provide opportunities for persons to gain meaningful jobs in the energy sector. EDO will also continue to work with its employees to build their capacity and ensure they are equipped to take up more complex roles,” according to the information afforded this newspaper.

RAMPS has been at the centre of attention over its battle to be certified by the Local Content Secretariat.

6 energy services companies on trade mission to Guyana

Oct 03 2022

G2T graduates at the TTCSI’s Inaugural Services Roundtable on 14 September 2022. were Stuart Mahabir, Vice-President of Business Development, Damus Limited; Shamfa Phillips, Manager at Phillips General Contracting Limited; Vishnu Balgobin, General Manager at Epic Maintenance Limited; Derek Walcott, Managing Director, North West Maritime Limited; Allison Demas, Chief Executive Officer, Media InSite Limited; and Rawle Rollocks, Director of Business Development, Assuage Business Development Company.

Six energy services sector companies were on a trade mission to Guyana from 4 – 6 October 2022, to meet key actors in the Guyana energy sector.

The trade mission was led by the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Services Industries (TTCSI)—in collaboration with exporTT and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The delegation will be in Georgetown, Guyana, for the Guyana Basins Summit under the theme, “Responsibly Developing the Region’s Resources for a Prosperous and Sustainable Future”.

The six local firms on the Mission include Damus Limited, North West Maritime Limited, Kronus Geological Services Limited, Epic Maintenance Limited, Weldfab Limited and Phillips General Contracting Limited—all graduates of Cohort One of the Gateway to Trade Export Accelerator Project for the Services Sector in Trinidad and Tobago.

Participants at the Summit will learn about investment, development, and project opportunities in Guyana, currently described as one of the world’s oil and gas “hot spots”. In addition to meeting top officials from the Guyana Government, they will connect with the major operators, licence holders, tier one contractors, service companies and the entire value chain in Guyana’s emerging hydrocarbons sector.

“The TTCSI continues to fulfil its mandate of preparing our local Services Sector to become increasingly competitive internationally, using the Gateway to Trade Project under the Go Global TT Services vehicle to get there.Both TTCSI and exporTT are committed to the creation of an “A” class B2B experience for these SMEs at the Summit, as T&T’s Energy Services companies are promoted in the region.”