Works are progressing smoothly on the Vreed-en-Hoop shorebase project which is still on track for completion this year-end.
A recent roundtable discussion brought together the heads of companies that are investors in two large-scale shore base projects being built simultaneously.
Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer, one of the Directors of NRG Holding Incorporated, participated in the event. NRG Holding is a Guyanese-owned consortium currently constructing a US$300 million shore base project in the Demerara River.
According to Boyer, the first phase of this project – the island that will serve as a base for Exxon’s operations, is well on the way to completion by December 15, 2023.
“As part of a project, we had to open up the mouth of the Demerara River and the shipping channel that is there, in order to achieve the timeline, set by Exxon to deliver our project… now, the shipping channel of Guyana pre was about 70 metres wide and about six meters deep. Post, it’s about 100 metres wide and nine meters deep.”
“[It’s] currently still in construction. We expect to deliver the first phase of that island on December 15 of this year. The entire project will be delivered in three phases. The first phase is December 15, 2023, the second phase is March 30, 2024. And the final phase being handed over at the end of 2024,” Deygoo-Boyer said.
In April 2022, ExxonMobil Guyana and the Vreed-en-Hoop Shorebase Incorporated (VEHSI) signed a 20-year agreement for shore base services to be provided at the port of Vreed-en-Hoop facility to support the US oil giant’s operations offshore Guyana. The sod was subsequently turned in June of that year on the US$300 million facility.
VEHSI is a joint venture between a fully-owned Guyanese consortium – NRG Holdings Incorporated, and Jan De Nul Group, the Belgium-based company undertaking the project that specialises in offshore, marine, civil, environment, and project development.
The consortium includes Hadi’s World Inc, owned by businessmen Nazar “Shell” Mohamed and Azruddin Mohamed, Nicholas Boyer and Eddie Boyer of National Hardware Guyana Limited, and Andron Alphonso of ZRN Investments Inc. NRG holds a majority stake of 85 per cent in VEHSI, while the remaining 15 per cent is owned by Jan De Nul – the company that will construct the facility.
The shore base project started the first step in June 2022, which entailed the dredging of the access channel in the Demerara River, including the deepening/widening of the existing nautical channel, berth pockets, and turning basin.
