Director of the Department of Energy, Dr. Mark Bynoe has given all assurances that the issue of storing Guyana’s crude is not a matter to be worried about at this point, but all options will be explored if and when that time comes.
International reports indicate that the demand for oil globally is on the decline due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Reuters had reported that a record amount of crude oil is being stored on ships around the world, some 160 million barrels of oil thus far.
Dr. Bynoe told journalists, during a virtual media conference that issue of storage from Guyana’s perspective is not one that arises at the moment since the country has already sold it first three cargoes.
“It is not possible for us to now be talking about storing those three cargos, those three have already been pre-sold. We had our first lift in February, as I mentioned we are expecting our second lift sometime in May and the third lift could well occur somewhere in July. Therefore, the issue of storing from the Guyana perspective is not one that really arises,” he was quoted by the Department of Public Information (DPI) as saying.
Dr Bynoe assured that Government will consider its options if the situation continues.
“We have to consider all options, but also we need to be cognisant that storage is very expensive as we have seen, there are several countries and companies that are hiring the VLCC’s to store their fuel, given the shortage of storage space, those costs are escalating daily, so we have to take the totality of the cost and benefits into consideration before we arrive at a single position.”
In the meantime, speaking specifically of Trinidad being an alternative storage hub if need be, Dr. Bynoe said this would not possible either.
“Trinidadians are using their own space to store their own fuel and based on estimation they will not be able to store for more than a month,” the Energy Director stated, according to DPI.
Storage space for crude, Dr Bynoe reminded, is very difficult and expensive to find, so he expressed hope that markets will begin to pick up in the near future.
