…can have two up and running before next elections
Kaieteur News – US conglomerate, Delta Energy and Petroleum Corporation (DEPC) through its subsidiary, Crab Island Refinery Inc. disclosed this week that it will be constructing four modular refineries on 270 acres of land east of Palmyra, Berbice.
Company Executives told Kaieteur News yesterday that they have been working to secure funding for this major project for years and were finally able to do so. Delta’s Samuel Wilson said, “we intend to tap Government’s share of the oil for this major project. We believe this will benefit many Guyanese and it is a project that is near to the hearts of the Executives, especially DEPCO’s President Romeo Cipriani who hails from Berbice.”
Kaieteur News understands that Cipriani is a US-registered Professional Engineer with over four decades of experience in the oil and gas and nuclear power sectors, with specific emphasis on petroleum refining. Wilson said the company can have at least two of the modular refiners up and running in two and a half years, adding that its project summary and application for environmental authorization are currently being scrutinised by regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Wilson said the company officials are thrilled to be able to move forward with the project that has been in the planning stage since 2006. This he said would have been supported by a Memorandum of Understanding with the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest).
With respect to financing, the company said in a statement that it signed a Commercial Contract with the Spanish Association of Manufacturers of Capital Goods (“SERCOBE”) for the four modular Refineries. It said the refining capacity of each refinery will be 60,000 bpd for a total output of 240,000 bpd. With the cooperation of the various Governmental agencies, DEPCO said it intends to proceed with deliberate speed to get construction works started in the first quarter of 2023.
The company said too that it was pleased to learn of President Irfaan Ali’s pledge to supply the local refineries with crude that it obtains for the Government’s share from the Stabroek Block. DEPCO was also keen to note that it would procure the crude at prevailing market prices. It said, “There is a tremendous demand in the region for refined products and DEPCO intends to meet and supply that demand for both Guyana and the wider Caribbean basin. Needless to say, the refined fuel would be much cheaper because of reduced transportation cost.”
The US company said too that cheaper cost of fuel relates to cheaper energy that would boost the manufacturing sector. It said as well that downstream projects such as the manufacturing of asphalt, fertilizer etc., would become a reality.
It said too that this would be a boost to the construction of roads and would be a benefit to the agricultural sector. Additionally, DEPCO said a significant number of jobs will be created, adding that approximately 3,000 would be directly employed in the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the refinery. It said the peripheral commercial activities should create an additional 7,000 jobs. DEPCO anticipates due to the present global demand for refined products, that all Government related agencies would act to accelerate and so reduce the processing time of the necessary documents and licenses. Overall, the company believes that its four refineries as well as the growing discoveries in the Stabroek Block are poised to make Region Six a growing economic tiger, and Guyana, a refining powerhouse by extension.
Original link posted by Kaieteur News on November 03, 2022.
