Once the lands are acquired, the project will proceed

Guyana is considering invoking the Doctrine of Eminent Domain to seize lands in the path of its US$1-billion gas-to-shore project, after failed consultations with some private landowners.

The government had long pursued consensual agreements with landowners from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) in the path of its gas-to-shore project and, with the negotiations winding down, some agreements were signed last weekend. Notwithstanding, some landowners have not found consensus with the negotiations led by Attorney General Anil Nandlall.

As a consequence, Guyana Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo told reporters during a press conference last week that some of the lands will have to be acquired by the state through enforced means.

“There may be a few people who do not agree with negotiations so the land will be compulsorily acquired if they don’t agree with negotiations,” Jagdeo declared.

The landowners are required to give up their lands in order to facilitate the pipelines of the gas-to-shore project. The path that has to be cleared for the pipelines is in the vicinity of Nouvelle Flanders, West Coast Demerara, to Wales, West Bank Demerara.

Details of the project

The main feature of the gas-to-shore initiative is a power plant that will generate 250 to 300 megawatts of power using natural gas from offshore the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels in the Stabroek Block. This will significantly reduce the cost of electricity in Guyana.

Upon landing on the West Coast Demerara shore, the pipeline will continue for approximately 25 kilometres to the Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) plant to be constructed at Wales. The pipeline would be 12 inches in diameter and is expected to transport some 50 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of dry gas to the NGL Plant, but has the capacity to push as much as 120 mmscfd.

The aim is to deliver rich gas by the end of 2024 for the power plant while the NGL facility is slated to be online by 2025.

The gas-to-shore project, which has a 25-year lifespan, is expected to employ up to 800 workers during the peak construction stage, as well as some 40 full-time workers during the operations stage, and another 50 workers during the decommissioning stage.