Berbice oil refinery by 2025 – Dr Singh

Nine bids have been submitted for the design, finance and construction of an oil refinery at the mouth of the Berbice River.

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, on Monday informed the National Assembly, during his budget presentation that the bids are to be evaluated.

Once started, construction of the refinery is anticipated to be completed by 2025.

“The refinery will allow the long-term production of refined fuel products to meet our domestic requirements to help strengthen the nation’s, and the region’s energy security,” Minister Singh said.

The plan for the refinery’s construction ties into the government’s vision of promoting value-added production and securing energy security both for Guyana and the Caribbean.

It is also an integral part of the government’s developmental plan for Region Six.

An oil refinery is an industrial plant that transforms crude oil into various usable petroleum products such as diesel, gasoline, lubricants and heating oils like kerosene.

Refineries serve as the second stage in the crude oil production process, following the extraction of crude oil from the earth.

Once the refinery at Berbice is operationalised, Guyana will be able to sell crude oil components to various industries for a broad range of purposes, including fuels for transportation, heating, paving roads, and generating electricity and raw materials for chemical manufacturing.

This will attract global investments due to soaring fuel prices worldwide, the increased cost of heating as time goes by, and a lack of adequate refining capacity to process crude into gasoline and diesel.

Nearby Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, The Netherlands Antilles, Cuba, Jamaica, British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, Barbados, and Suriname possess oil refineries as well.