Exxon is looking to private partners for waterfront centers
… As the Opposition presses for State ownership
Kaieteur News – ExxonMobil Guyana, in light of its local acceleration operations, is currently looking for more waterfront bases here to meet its growing requirements.
According to the company, Esso Exploration & Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) – its Guyana Subsidiary – it intends to put in place an “enabling agreement for project shore base facilities, equipment and services to support Guyana’s future projects. ”
As such, the company said, the scope for its Request for Information (RFI) is to identify Contractors who can provide a fully functional, fit for purpose clean base based in Guyana to support the future needs of Guyana projects by starting in 2023.
Department of COSBI
According to ExxonMobil, this RFI “seeks detailed operational and technical information from suppliers for meeting the requirements of selecting EEPGL applications for shore base services in Guyana.”
The criteria set out as published by ExxonMobil call on potential contractors to have a “Documented proof of lease / land ownership; Berthage capacity and capability to support a range of boats; A dedicated area for the storage and staging of materials and equipment; A purpose-built area for fabrication; Dedicated office and warehouse space; Purpose-built materials and equipment and cargo. ”
This is in addition to personnel, plans and procedures required to support and implement the shore base.
Included in ExxonMobil’s demand for an alternative seafront operator, birth requirements specify a loading mooring up to 100 meters with a minimum draft of six meters and must be capable of supporting 80 tonnes per square inch. Detailed specifications are also required for a 110m wide x 140m deep fabrication pad with direct quayside access, perimeter security and ancillary equipment, including cranes that can lift up to 400 tonnes.
According to the company in its invitation to potential contractors, “we can use responses from you and the other participants to validate and further develop our team’s recommendations for inclusion in the Request for Proposal (RFP) for shore base services in Guyana . ”
The company said the effective RFI process “allows us to seek your input and develop a list of eligible bidders before structured bid rules come into effect.”
Guyana currently runs one shore-based operation, the Guyana Shore Base Incorporated (GYBSI), and serves as Guxese ExxonMobil’s only Tier 1 Contractor.
Following this move by ExxonMobil, a proposal was put in the National Assembly by the Member of Parliament (MP) and Shadow Minister for the Natural Resources sector, David Patterson, for a land use policy.
That proposal also calls for the establishment of a multi-agency task force and requires all future shore bases to be state-owned, but leased to private operators.
Patterson’s proposal is based on the growing need for waterfront centers to serve the needs of the local industry.
GYBSI does not have the capacity to handle Guyana’s shore base needs, and will certainly not be able to handle the growing need on its own, according to Patterson.
The former Minister for Public Infrastructure said that while additional beach bases were needed, they had to be developed as part of a macro development plan, not just driven by the sector’s demand forces.
He believes that the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC), and other relevant agencies should adopt an integrated land use and zoning policy, taking into account key considerations to facilitate the industrial activities of the sector oil.