A recent official trip by Guyana President Mohamed Irfaan Ali to the Dominican Republic has yielded the country a new preliminary deal to explore building an oil refinery in Guyana as the country seeks to expand its oil-processing facilities to better capitalize on its vast oil reserves.
The new deal, according to a report from Reuters, would allow the two countries to cooperate in building a new oil refinery in Guyana that could process up to 50,000 barrels a day and provide a significant boost in the South American nation’s ability to bring in revenue from the massive oil discoveries it has made during the past decade.
The preliminary deal would give the Dominican Republic a 51% ownership share of the facilities.
Talks between the countries regarding the potential refinery are still vague, but Guyana’s government has expressed no desire to participate as a shareholder in the facility, per the Reuters report. The prices of the fuel made within the refinery between the two countries would be negotiated under a 30-year contract once more details are in place.
The two heads of state publicly announcing the preliminary deal. (Credit: Presidencia de la República Dominicana)
Currently, according to the local publication News Room, Guyana is producing over 300,000 to 450,000 barrels of oil per day through a deal in the Stabroek Block with ExxonMobil. It has set a goal of reaching an output of 1.2 million barrels per day by 2027.
The new deal with the Dominican Republic could potentially help the nation reduce its need for imported fuel, according to the office of the president of the Dominican Republic. In a statement, it said that the culmination of the deal would “establish monumental initiatives that seek to guarantee the energy and food security of the country and the region.”
Dominican President Luis Abinader celebrated the news as a development that will strengthen ties between the two countries.
“Today, both Guyana and the Dominican Republic are making history, and it is a milestone of collaboration for the Caribbean region that is unprecedented,” said Abinader.
