(Reuters) – Guyana and the Dominican Republic are making progress on accords for offshore oil and gas exploration and to build a fertilizer plant and potentially a refinery in the South American country, Dominican President Luis Abinader said on Tuesday.
The countries signed a memorandum of understanding in 2023 to work on energy projects.
The Caribbean country is interested in exploring Guyana’s Berbice offshore block, which might require a new delimitation of the area originally explored by a unit of Toronto-listed CGX Energy (OYL.V), opens new tab and ultimately returned to the government.
A potential new refinery in Guyana is also among the interests of both governments, but a final agreement is pending. The Dominican Republic has a state-owned refining company, Refidomsa.
“Regarding the oil refinery, this represents a major financial and industrial decision that requires a long-term strategic plan,” Abinader said at Guyana’s Energy Conference in Georgetown. “In the coming months, we will need to make a final decision.”
On petrochemicals, the Dominican Republic recently completed a feasibility study for a fertilizer plant, primarily for producing urea, the president said.
“At a time when global supplies remain restricted and this product continues to play a crucial role in global food security, this plant will meet the need for both regions,” he said.
Guyana is pressing a consortium led by Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), opens new tab, which controls all oil and gas output in the country, to deliver natural gas to shore from its floating production facilities to feed power generation, petrochemical and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects that could expand revenue.
Exxon executives last week said the group completed a long-awaited appraisal of its gas resources, which will allow a more accurate calculation of total gas available for output.
Investors were spooked after the company posted lower earnings and recorded $2.3 billion in impairment losses.
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Reporting by Kemol King and Marianna Parraga; Editing by Helen Popper and Marguerita Choy
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